Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) MEC Siboniso Duma has been called upon to rework the proposed Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife budget before it is due to be tabled before the KZN legislature later this month.
This after a written question and response revealed that although Ezemvelo set an internal goal of 962 field rangers to be employed, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines indicate the entity should have 1 744 rangers on duty.
According to a written question by DA KZN EDTEA spokesperson Heinz de Boer, oversight at the committee revealed a serious lack of human resources at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, particularly in the field ranger component of the entity.
The question was for the office of the EDTEA MEC Duma.
The response was submitted and signed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife's acting chief executive officer Sihle Mkhize. It was also recommended and signed by EDTEA head Nhlakanipho Nkontwana and EDTEA MEC Duma.
The department said that as of January 2023, Ezemvelo had 608 personnel employed as field rangers, across all ranks, out of the approved 962 field rangers’ posts. This leaves the organisation with a field range vacancy rate of 36.8% (equivalent to 354) for the reporting period. The above vacancy rate can be interpreted as under-capacity for field rangers.
The department also revealed that according to the IUCN guidelines, ideally there should be at least one field ranger for every 5km² of a protected area. Based on the currently protected area estate directly under Ezemvelo’s jurisdiction (8 721 km²) the ideal number of field rangers is 1 744, hence we are 65.1% (equivalent to 1 136) short when compared to the IUCN standard.
The department added that in 2022, Ezemvelo requested 72 field rangers across all ranks as critical vacancies to be filled (36 were field rangers), only 42 were approved (of which 19 were field rangers), and all 19 were absorbed from the cohort that was trained,” the department said.
Reacting to the response, De Boer said that the slaughter continued as hundreds of field ranger posts remained vacant.
De Boer said that as shocking new statistics reveal the full extent of critical vacancies within Ezemvelo, the DA calls for a larger budget allocation for the 2023/24 financial year.
“Tasked to maintain law in our conservation areas and prevent poaching, the field ranger vacancy rate now stands at 36.8%. This equates to 354 posts not being filled and boots not on the ground to combat the terrible scourge of poaching in KZN,” De Boer said.
He said that in 2022, more than 220 rhinos were killed, while at least 15 elephants and scores of plains game were taken from parks across the province.
“Compounding the situation is KZN’s unenviable reputation for having some of the only rhinos in South Africa that have not been de-horned. Again, budgets and a lack of capacity have all but stopped de-horning operations,” De Boer said.
He also said that research quoted in the replies also speaks to: “protected areas have an inadequate number of personnel and field rangers to enable them to deliver on global expectations.” Consequently, Ezemvelo’s real ranger vacancy rate tops 65%.
De Boer added that District Conservation Officers who deal with permit inspections, enforcement, compliance and damage-causing animal complaints have also been left high and dry – with the required three rangers to assist the officers not being available.
“The long-standing underfunding of Ezemvelo remains a matter of enormous concern and has directly contributed to the entity losing hundreds of highly vulnerable animals annually.
“Commercialisation plans that could have generated further revenue have still not seen the light of day. This is while the 2024 budget appears to have a marginal increase,” De Boer said.
He said that it is patently unfair to expect the current ranger cohort to face armed poachers in the new bush war being waged in KZN. Likewise, it is unfair for this ANC-run government to expect the public to continue swallowing bitter statistics on poaching each year.
De Boer said that the DA calls on EDTEA MEC Duma to rework the proposed Ezemvelo budget before it is due to be tabled before the legislature later this month.
“These figures should include the immediate employment of the 17 fully trained rangers who were never employed and the absorption of all newly-trained staff,” De Boer said.
“Only a boosted budget for conservation staff, coupled with adequate fencing and proper inter-departmental collaboration will stop KZN's poaching crisis,” he said.
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