KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife entire board of civil servants suspended in corruption probe

UP until 1994 the activities of the wonderful organisation, the Natal Parks Board (now KZN Wildlife) were monitored and guided by a non-political, unremunerated board of dedicated people. Work ethic and integrity were clearly evident and, by and large, the organisation was squeaky clean.

Alas, that no longer seems to be the case and we read of the suspension of the CEO and forensic audit reports naming a significant number of employees involved in fraud and criminal activities. The entire board of civil servants was suspended by Mthimkhulu following a forensic audit report by financial services group Deloitte & Touche, which suggested that 47 Ezemvelo employees - three at executive level, 25 at management level and 19 below management level - had failed to declare certain business transactions and were involved in fraud and corruption and are currently being investigated. The employees had been fingered for allegations ranging from "inappropriate use of corporate cards" to misappropriation of funds and VAT payments to suppliers who were not VAT-registered. The audit report recommended that police institute criminal investigations against six employees and disciplinary action against the others.

This week Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife boss Khulani Mkhize was demoted by a disciplinary tribunal. Under the influence of alcohol he crashed a car he was not authorised to use and failed to report the incident. Mkhize was suspended by the provincial MEC for agriculture and environmental affairs, Mtholephi Mthimkhulu, after the incident, which happened after a meeting of Ezemvelo board members at Tembe Elephant Reserve near the Mozambique border earlier this year. Mkhize was also ordered to reimburse Ezemvelo R128 600, which was the value of the vehicle the CEO was driving at the time of the accident.

Sadly this state of affairs is the direct result of the transform-at-all-costs mindset, which has cleansed Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife (EKZNW) of hundreds of years of conservation experience and institutional knowledge and is now a government department run by incapable and inefficient black men and women.

Unless the provincial government acts swiftly and decisively to rectify these problems, I believe that there is a very real threat that SANParks will make a bid to take control of KwaZulu-Natal’s conservation jewels.