Conservation the good news

Source: Flow Communications and The Good Work Foundation

The Daily Maverick said in February this year they had obtained intelligence reports which “link two senior members of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet to four criminal cartels operating inside Eskom”. Prevented from revealing names right now for legal reasons, the reports link cartels to the sabotage of Eskom’s power stations with the aim of political destabilisation. Documents reveal photographs and names given to the various players: “a “territorial ruler”, a “henchman” and “assassin” are the leaders and foot soldiers of four cartels: the Presidential Cartel, the Mesh-Kings Cartel, the Legendaries Cartel and the Chief Cartel. The document reveals a plan to bring South Africa to its knees entitled: “Illicit procurement process to defraud Eskom”.” Further information reveals: “Threat: destabilisation of Eskom power plants in Mpumalanga allegedly involving [‘territorial ruler’], Team Shikisha … the Presidential Cartel and Radical Economic Transformation (RET) cabal.” Also, The Witbank News reported that community members of the area of Emalahleni allege [Team Shikisha] “are using illegal guns, shooting in the streets, threatening people, and saying they will kill them.” A further report from the source maintains: “[the territorial ruler] initiates public unrest in Mpumalanga through his henchmen, Team Shikisha and [name excised] in support of becoming president.” For further insight into the Eskom debacle, take a peek inside Truth to Power by André de Ruyter inthis month’s Big Issue, courtesy, Penguin Random House South Africa.

Africa’s wildlife economy is ripe with possibility. By nurturing a love of the natural environment in young people living on the borders of our pristine wild spaces like the Greater Kruger National Park, we can contribute to sustainable development and tap into the sector’s rich potential for employment.

Realising this, education non-profit Good Work Foundation (GWF) created its Travel & Tourism Academy, which offers career training in conservation and hospitality to young rural Mpumalanga residents. 

The academy has seen at least 95% of its graduates employed in lodges, private game reserves, hotels and other establishments, mainly in and around the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve and the Greater Kruger National Park. 

“Game lodges would like to ‘employ local’,” explains Kathleen Hay, GWF’s Travel & Tourism Academy programme manager. She says having access to area-specific vocational training means that young rural people can study and ultimately work close to where they live. “You could say we’re growing our own timber.”

Says Conservation Academy coordinator Sibusiso Mnisi, “I’ve seen a great transformation in our students as they come to understand what it truly means to conserve the natural environment. Their eyes are opened to the impact of the crisis of rhino poaching, how trees can be used sustainably, and what careers they can pursue. It’s a great life-changing experience for young people.”

Conservation Academy graduate Amend Mhlanga, who, following his foundation year at GWF, was accepted to further his conservation education journey at the prestigious More Field Guide College. While out with guests on a game drive, he crafted a whistle flute or xiwhewhe in Xitsonga, from the dried shell of the fruit from a black monkey orange tree, demonstrating a deep connection with the land and its natural treasures. 

Amend grew up in the village of Newington near the Kruger National Park says, “What inspired me to become a field guide was being out with my dad in the bush. He was a field guide and used to take me out with him. He taught me about interactions between animals as well as between people and wildlife, and about respecting our natural environment.

About his training at GWF he adds, “I have learnt the power of taking small steps and that change is good.”

Furthermore, female Conservation Academy graduates are busting the stereotype that wildlife conservation is a man’s job. Joyce Maile, an apprentice field guide at the Lion Sands Game Reserve says the conservation programme “encouraged me to see the environment in a different way. Nature guiding was always seen as a man’s job, but I have always loved being in nature and believed I could become a field guide. I am strong and fearless!”

Sibusiso has the last word: “If we can foster a holistic understanding of how everything is interconnected among young people, then we’ve done our job.”