Durban — Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) Minister Barbara Creecy will be heading to KwaZulu-Natal to conduct a two-day site visit at the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) and iSimangaliso Wetland Park in northern KZN on Thursday and Friday.
According to the department, Creecy will be joined by KZN Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Siboniso Duma and together they will inspect parts of HiP with respect to the boundary fence to keep wild animals from escaping the park into the nearby communities.
The department said that Creecy and Duma will also visit the park’s Rhino Poaching Nerve Centre.
Last month, DFFE released the annual rhino poaching statistics which revealed increased poaching activity in KZN with half of the 448 rhinos poached in the past year being from the province.
Creecy will then head to St Lucia to visit the community farms in the Isimangaliso area that have been affected by recent flooding, look at several community projects and receive and engage with stakeholders around an array of issues within iSimangaliso.
Meanwhile, in a recent parliamentary written question, the IFP’s Narend Singh asked Creecy whether, given the current dire situation in the flooded farmlands located near the Umfolozi River, as well as the growing socio-economic crisis faced by small-scale farmers negatively affected by the low-level flooding, the department has considered purchasing the farms and incorporating such farms into the iSimangaliso Wetland Park area.
In response, Creecy said: “iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority has not been approached by farmers to purchase their land or incorporate it into the park. Should such an approach be made, park management may consider purchasing the farms for incorporation into the park once a thorough assessment exercise, valuation and budget availability has been ascertained.”
In another parliamentary question, Singh asked Creecy whether, given the rapidly deteriorating state of small-scale farming along the Umfolozi River due to low-level flooding, resulting in a loss of income and employment at an accelerating rate, with flooded land now reported to cover some 2 500 hectares, an increase of 1 000ha since last year, any immediate interventions are being undertaken to prevent not only an environmental disaster but also a socio-economic disaster for the residents in the affected areas.
Creecy said that on February 16, commercial and subsistence farmers requested iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and the DFFE to facilitate the declaration of a state of disaster on the Umfolozi River.
“The task team consulted with the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs who have agreed to visit the area from the 6th until the 10th of March 2023. The purpose of the visit is to determine whether the situation meets the conditions for declaration of a state of disaster,” Creecy said.
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