Paradise in the crosshairs – bandits, elephant poachers threaten to kill ecotourism in KZN’s Jozini

For decades the area surrounding the serene and picturesque Jozini Dam and Pongola Nature Reserve has been a tourist mecca, drawing well-heeled local and international visitors keen on seeing nature at its best, including cruises to watch elephants grazing and to spot rare species.

Luxury lodges and hundreds of workers depend on the viability of the local tourist attractions and a constant stream of high-spending visitors.

But now the survival of this ecotourism industry is in jeopardy because of growing armed banditry by poachers who kill elephants for their tusks and catch endangered tiger fish with gillnets. To add to the problems, local residents have vowed to kill the elephants, which they accuse of killing and threatening their livestock.

Environmental Affairs Minister Barbara Creecy said authorities believed that the area and other game reserves in northern KwaZulu-Natal had become softer targets for poaching syndicates because of anti-poaching efforts in the Kruger National Park and other poaching hot spots.

The latest attack, widely reported locally and internationally, occurred in January when armed bandits attacked a tourist boat. The tourists – five Germans, two Americans, one Australian and four South Africans – were on a cruise on the Jozini Dam.

Read in Daily Maverick: “Jozini Dam: Twenty-five slaughtered elephants later, tourists in a viewing boat come under poachers’ gunfire”

The incident was condemned by Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who described it as “grave” and added that her department was “working with the law enforcement and other agencies to ensure the safety of tourists in the country”.

The attack followed the killing of more than 25 elephants whose tusks had been cut off.

When DM168 visited the villages of eGalweni, eMpondweni and eMombeni, tensions were still high and many conservationists and local residents were not willing to speak on the record, with some saying they feared being attacked.

Those in the tourism industry feared that, if attacks, poaching and other incidents continued, they would lose their livelihood.

Problems began years ago. Locals say that in about 2012 the fence of the Pongola Nature Reserve – which is run by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife – was vandalised and stolen. After that, villagers’ cattle could graze in the reserve and people could fetch wood there.

The area is a tourist paradise, with the serene Jozini Dam, caves and a mountain lookout point where you can see South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. The grave of the Zulu king Dingane, who reigned from 1828 to 1840, is also in the region.

Other attractions include the Border Cave on the western escarpment of the Lebombo Mountains, which has a record of occupation spanning about 200,000 years. The cave was made famous by the discovery of the “Lebombo Bone”, the oldest known artefact to have been used as a counting tool. Dating back 35,000 years, it is a piece of baboon fibula scored with 29 notches.

Read in Daily Maverick: “Wanted — a new home for up to 50 wandering African elephants”

A herd of elephants crossed into the nature reserve from a private game reserve in about 2015. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife says the herd has since multiplied to about 70, but locals say there could be more than 100. The wildlife authority has now promised that it will move the elephants elsewhere.

Tensions rose sharply after Bheki Nyawo, a cattle herder, was trampled by a herd of elephants in 2022. Many villagers were reluctant to talk about the incident. But 60-year-old Khonoliya Mathenjwa is one of the locals who want the elephants out of the area. He admitted that he was among the local cattle owners grazing their livestock inside the reserve.