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(File Image) Elephants walking in the bush.
The residents of Mooiplaas, near Elukwatini, say they are being tormented by elephants escaping the Songimvelo Nature Reserve.
It is reported that elephants escape through the porous fence at the nature reserve and destroy crops among others. The fence was repaired in 2024.
The locals are accusing the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency, the company managing government nature reserves in the province of negligence.
A resident Lastborn Msibi says the elephants are tormenting them.
“We just want to urge the government to come and talk to us. We want them to sit down with us and have A final solution about this matter of the elephants because we are trying to get something to put in our mouths but the elephants come and take everything. We are asking the government if they can’t work with us. Let them take everything the elephants and other animals here and bring another investor who can work with us,” says Msibi.
Meanwhile, the Mpumalanga Tourism Park Agency (MTPA) has acknowledged that the fence is inadequate to protect the wildlife, but it blames illegal miners and poachers for destroying the fence.
“Our challenge as we speak is the illegal miners and also the poachers who are always cutting our fence our filed rangers are always visible always on the ground to make sure that our fence is protected from this illegal miners and the poachers, we are also working together with the saps to assist us to deal with the issues of illegal mining and also the poachers and the poaching that is taking place in that area,” says MTPA spokesperson, Simphiwe Sgungube.
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