Our Burning Planet recently exposed how a community of 26,000 people on the western border of the Greater Kruger Conservancy, where the fence has fallen into serious disrepair, faces an eviction order from the government. But why do the authorities want them off the land? Onke Ngcuka unpacks the story in a Q&A with investigative journalist Kevin Bloom.
What’s the story?
There are actually three parts to this story.
The first part involves an eviction notice issued by the national government to the 26,000 members of the Mthimkhulu community. These South African citizens are the residents of the twin settlements of Mbaula and Phalaubeni on the Letaba River banks, neighbouring the Kruger National Park. The eviction notice, which the community is fighting in the Polokwane High Court, is an order to vacate the “Mthimkhulu Private Game Reserve”, a 9,000-hectare parcel of land that appears to be rightfully theirs.
The second part involves a broken 27km boundary fence for which no one is prepared to take responsibility. Alongside the all-important fact that the community has been deprived of legal hunting revenues from their game reserve since 2015, this has directly resulted in a sharp rise in the trade of bushmeat.
The…