It’s been a while since our last conversation, and after a year of lockdowns and restrictions it feels as if a whole year has mysteriously disappeared from our lives. However, the fight against rhino poaching has continued relentlessly, and there is much to report.
The latest official figures
The Department of the Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) reported (February 2021) that there was a marked decline in rhino poaching in the year 2020. The (nation-wide, not just SANParks) statistics released in the report show a steady decline in rhino killings since the terrible peak in 2014, when 1 215 animals were killed. Recent figures record 769 killings in 2018, 594 in 2019, and 394 in 2020.
- Is this good news? Absolutely.
- Can the figures be trusted? Hmmmm … Jury still out.
- Does Barbara Creecy seem to be a better Minister than her predecessors? So far, so good. Of course, the bar had been set very low by Edna Molewa and Nomvula Mokonyane. But so far, so good.
- Why the decline? We want to believe that better policing and more effective prosecutions are to thank, and this may indeed be part of the answer; but the Minister herself explained that Covid-related travel restrictions within and outside South Africa definitely played a role. The risk of being caught while hunting would have been extremely high during a time of strict curfew rules, and the drop in the number of international flights limited trafficking opportunities. Additionally, there is evidence that, particularly during the first lockdown, criminals who might have been Level 1 ‘shooters’ in normal years turned to alcohol and tobacco smuggling, as easier ways of making a quick profit.
- Does this mean that the poaching curse is now under control? With more than one animal still being killed every day, absolutely not. And as Covid fades slowly away, hunting of rhinos and transportation of horn will become easier again …
Don English
As part of a highly publicised long-term plan to fight poaching, an intensive protection zone (IPZ) was created in the south of Kruger in 2016, where the bulk of the largest rhino population in the world resides. The IPZ, consisting or fences, technology, land and air surveillance and rangers, was made possible by the R255 million donation made by the Howard G Buffett Foundation to SANParks in March 2014. In its complete form it is to be implemented in 4 000km² of the park, about 400 000 hectares or a fifth of the entire Kruger.
Don English, a senior regional ranger in the IPZ, won the category Best Game Ranger in the Rhino Conservation Awards on World Ranger Day 2020. He has been described as a conservation ‘legend’. Prince Albert II of Monaco, Patron of the Rhino Conservation Awards, expressed his personal appreciation to ‘all these men and women. … You are defending the rights of nature faced with humanity’s destructive and irresponsible greed.’
Jamie Joseph, founder of Saving the Wild, introduces Don English as follows:
Don English is the most critical rhino ranger on earth, because he is at the helm of protecting the largest population, and most importantly he is Kruger’s master of intelligence. He handles the informers – information – and warns his ranger teams of incoming incursions so that they can set up ambushes. Kruger is the size of a small country – most often poachers are caught because of intel.
He was suspended from duty in October 2019. Africa Wild reported on 11 November 2019:
SANParks is remaining tight-lipped about the suspension of one of the Kruger National Park’s most senior and respected game rangers, Don English. English and a colleague, Victor Magakwe, were suspended on October 11 for the alleged assault and mistreatment of rangers and suspected poachers after complaints were filed by another game ranger [who had been] suspended prior to English and Magakwe’s case for his alleged involvement in rhino poaching … [ after] an illegal weapon was found in his tent in a bush camp. Following his complaint, the EFF allegedly became involved, leading to the Park’s management taking action against Magakwe and English.
Buks Viljoen
Correspondent
The suspension was lifted early in December 2019. During the two months that it lasted, the poaching of rhino in the KNP spiked dramatically, with more than a hundred animals being shot while English and Magakwe were off duty on trumped-up charges.
Now SANParks is planning to transfer English to a ranger station in the northern section of the KNP, supposedly to deal with poaching problems in that area. The reality is, there are relatively few poaching problems in that section of the Park, as most of the KNP’s rhino population is concentrated in the south.
Jamie Joseph posted this impassioned appeal on the Saving the Wild website on 14 April 2021:
www.savingthewild.com/news/urgent-please-share-save-kruger-rhinos-keepdonintheipz/
www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=external&v=274483976491989
SANParks management are about to move Regional Ranger Don English out of Kruger’s IPZ – intense protection zone for rhinos – and faraway up north where there are few rhinos. As soon as this happens the poaching syndicates will infiltrate and smash the IPZ, and a lot of rhinos will be shot and slaughtered. To put this into perspective, when Don was suspended for two months October to December 2019 – on trumped up charges by rangers caught poaching (criminals masquerading as rangers) – during those two months poaching more than doubled.
‘The Last Horns of Africa’ is an upcoming documentary on rhinos. By some small miracle the director was given access to Don English before SANParks management became toxic. This is the best rhino documentary I have ever watched, because it is character driven, it is authentic with unparalleled access, and it takes you into the world few people know – the underworld of organized crime driven by the kingpins. In many ways, this sets up the stage for the Blood Rhino Blacklist documentary currently in the works, which will lift the veil on corruption in South Africa.
In ‘The Last Horns of Africa’ documentary there is an interview with Don’s daughter that nearly broke me, because it is the reality that few people know.
Every time he pursues poachers, and every time he leaves the park to meet with informers, his family never know if he is going to make it back alive. There is a part of me that is riddled with guilt for even fighting for Don to stay in the Kruger IPZ, because I know how much the poaching syndicates hate him and want to eliminate him. But the rhinos will die without him, and we are down to the last.
I am so sorry to Don’s family for all their suffering, mostly because of the awful way that he has been treated by senior members of SANParks management, and I know it would be a lot less heartbreak to just walk away. But his family were raised with the wild, just like my family, and the risks are something we all have to live with, or die with, because the only thing worse is doing nothing at all. Don English is one of a kind.
Please, stand with us. Keep Don in the IPZ.
SANParks ‘media specialist’ Isaac Phaahla responded to this post by explaining that there were a number of well-thought-out reasons behind this decision. These were summarised in a statement to the media, reported in this article in The Citizen on 17 April 2021:
SANParks explains decision to rotate anti-poaching rangers
Part of the conditions of ranger services are that they move ‘periodically’, which SANParks said was done ‘for many reasons’.
Public outcries over the rearranging of rhino anti-poaching rangers in the Kruger National Park (KNP) have prompted the South African National Parks (SANParks) to explain their reasoning behind this decision.
Declining rhino populations
Despite significant efforts, the KNP’s rhino population continues to suffer, due to ‘a range of factors’.
A strategic workshop held by SANParks saw plans being made ‘to reverse the current negative trend in the rhino population’.
This revealed the start of new initiatives ‘aimed to adjust the organisation’s current security efforts’.
‘It is clear that structural change, greater collaboration with and support for our rangers is required.’
Special zones
One of the ways in which the park has coped with the amount of rhino poaching was to set up an IPZ, a joint protective zone (JPZ) and a combined protective zone (CPZ). The latter will be formed further north in the park.
At the moment, KNP anti-poaching and conservation efforts comprise of [sic] a head ranger, four regional rangers and 22 section rangers, as well as numerous field rangers in each section.
An additional unit is also managed by a regional ranger for special operations, a tracker dog unit and a technology manager, as well as a dedicated operations centre.
Entry points in and out of the park are managed by the park’s protection services unit.
All rangers are supported by an air support unit and an environmental crime investigation unit. There are also partnerships with police.
In addition, there is a sporting conservation and science service, as well as veterinary wildlife units.
Rotating rangers
Part of the conditions of ranger services is that they move ‘periodically’, which SANParks said was done ‘for many reasons’.
This relates to security, but also that ‘the workload is shared so that rangers, working in demanding areas which experience regular contacts with poachers, are rotated.’
There is also a need for skills transfers, new opportunities, and capitalising on ‘individual strengths.’
As such, two regional rangers and six section rangers will soon be rotated. This includes regional ranger Don English.
Rotations will continue over the next 12 months, ‘and into the future’.
‘Regional ranger Don English has extensive experience in anti-poaching and conservation matters, and his skills are valuable in managing the ecosystem in the KNP, collectively with the entire management team.
‘Consultation with rangers on the proposed moves are at an advanced stage,’ SANParks added.
‘These movements relate to the employment relationship between the employer and employee, are of a sensitive security nature, and SANParks does not wish to make any further statements on this matter at the current time.’
Nica Richards
Premium Journalist
What do all of these ‘well-thought-out reasons’ add up to?
Not much. Many words, lots of impressive terms such as ‘strategic workshop’, ‘structural change’, ‘skills transfer’, but nothing – nothing – that satisfactorily justifies moving Don English northwards.
How much of all this can we believe?
I try to be very careful indeed about ensuring that the information I pass on is true, accurate and complete. So I never take any media report or facebook post or website assertion at face value. I have the means and contacts to verify information about wildlife conservation in general and rhino protection in particular, through research and personal consultation with knowledgeable and reliable individuals.
I have therefore gone to a great deal of trouble to confirm that the facts above about Don English, his trumped-up suspension and his transfer are absolutely true. A spokesperson for the rhino protection organisation that we at Wordsmiths support last night told me that the continued presence of Don English in the IPZ is ‘absolutely crucial’ to the protection of the KNP’s rhino population, and affirmed the accuracy of the accounts reproduced above.
What can you do?
You can respond to Jamie Joseph’s appeal on her Saving the Wild website (link above).
Any good news to report?
Yes.
- On 10 February 2021 Independent Online (IOL) reported that North Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) judge Bert Bam was demanding answers as to why the case against Groenewald had been dragging on for so long, and warned Groenewald’s defence team of severe consequences if it was discovered that the matter had been deliberately delayed.
- As mentioned above, 2020 statistics released by DEFF show a marked decline in the number of rhinos killed in poaching activities.
- The same report records that 179 ‘alleged poachers’ were arrested within the Kruger National Park in 2019, and that during the same year 145 sentences were handed down resulting from convictions relating to rhino cases, for between two years and fifteen-plus years.
- The following convictions (inter alia) have taken place in the past year:
Jabulani Ndlovu (40), Forget Ndlovu (37) and Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu (38), collectively known as the Ndlovu Gang, were each sentenced to 25 years in jail for 13 poaching incidents in which 22 rhino were killed in the Eastern Cape over a five-year period. Their appeal against their conviction was dismissed by a Full Bench of the Makhanda High Court in November 2020.
Our rhino-protection allies contributed to all of these convictions in various ways, and could not have done so without the financial support they receive from sources such as us – the generous individuals who continue to send us money every month to pass on to our colleagues in the field.
- Court cases pending:
The case against members of the Great Fish River Nature Reserve poaching group in the Eastern Cape is due to begin this month, April 2021.
The case against members of another Eastern Cape poaching group, which was postponed while more evidence was being gathered, is [OH1] due in June.
The Nyathi group court case is due in August. They have poached in many parts of the country.
The National Prosecuting Authority has recognised the value of the information that our colleagues supply, and has asked them also to prepare evidence for use in prosecuting these individuals for other poaching activities in Hoedspruit and Natal.
Current investigations are taking place into another seven individuals, whose names I have received. I don’t name them here, in order to ensure that the ongoing covert investigations into their activities are not compromised.
- On 20 April 2021 we made on your behalf a deposit of R 10 100-00 into our colleagues’ bank account.
Why not you?
Many people we have approached, all of them supposedly interested in wildlife and conservation, and all of them well-to-do, have either ignored our appeal or made an excuse not to contribute. Clearly, it’s got nothing to do with affordability; it has everything to do with just not taking the situation seriously.
Among those who do contribute, many are elderly, in many cases residents in retirement villages, whose income and assets are strictly limited. This is true generosity, and it is making a measurable difference in the fight against poachers and poaching syndicates. Individual monthly contributions are typically modest, but see how they have added up! Thank you.
Our website
Please visit us at www.wordsmiths.co.za for more information about how we and our company support rhino conservation. The latest post on our News page is entitled ‘How Many Rhinos are there in the Kruger National Park? ’The website also contains information about how to contribute to our