Blood donations help save Hluhluwe farmer's life

Members of the St Lucia Community will by now be aware of the brutal attack on Peter-John Hassard, conservationist and farmer, at his Hluhluwe farm on Monday 20 May. Hassard was reportedly attacked and shot by five black male gunmen as he was leaving his farmhouse. In a critical condition he drove himself to a local hospital where he has been fighting for his life since the attack. 

Litter: Unwelcome in a World Heritage Site

In November 2012 St Lucia News published an article on litter in St Lucia, a problem which should have no place in a World Heritage Site. The article included photographs of litter-strewn beach car parks & overturned bins at Cape Vidal and questioned the enforcement of 'no drinking in public', an age-old town by-law. The article can be viewed here. No comments or feedback were received from the park authority, yet, according to reports from some members of the St Lucia community, the litter issue has once again reared it's ugly head.

Archive photo: upturned bins at Cape Vidal Nov 2012

Each member of the St Lucia Community pays towards the employment of Town Security whose job it is to patrol every part of the town, from McKenzie Street to the beaches, ensuring not only the safety of our community & visitors but also the cleanliness of our town.

Western Shores rhino poaching: Update

Archive photo: rhino poached for its horn

Sadly, confirmation has been received from iSimangaliso, the Wetland Park Authority, of the four rhinos recently poached in the Western Shores area of the wetland park.

A media release published by KZN Wildlife on the 21st of May revealed the discovery of 11 rhino carcasses in KZN reserves, thought to have been poached within the last 20 days. Of this total, eight (seven white rhino and one black rhino) were poached in St Lucia's Western and Eastern Shores reserves, with six in Western Shores and two in Eastern Shores. This means that the iSimangaliso Wetland Park has been hardest hit out of all KZN's protected areas. Nevertheless, KZN Wildlife CEO Dr Bandile Mkize is "determined to keep working on solutions and tightening up on security matters." Tony Conway, iSimangaliso Park Manager, confirmed that heavy calibre firearms are being used after a spent .458 cartridge was found. 

The Zululand Antipoaching Wing (ZAP-Wing) helicopter assisted in the search for poachers on the night of the 20th of May and during the early hours of the 21st of May, while KZN Wildlife has intensified its aerial patrols of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and is "improving its underground information gathering efforts around the park". The loss of these rhinos comes on the eve of the Rhino Summit, to be held at University of Zululand from the 22nd - 23rd of May 2013.
Up until mid-last week, KZN Wildlife reserves had lost a total of 10 rhinos to poaching so far this year, a tiny fraction of the countrywide statistics.

Archive photo: Cheetah plane used by ZAP-Wing

Today, 22 May, KZN Wildlife sadly announced the poaching of an elephant, from Tembe Elephant Park. Tembe Elephant Park is not only a Big 5 game reserve but is an elephant sanctuary, originally set up in the 1980s to protect the elephant population fleeing Southern Mozambique, where they were being decimated due to the Mozambican Civil War.

St Lucia News would, once again, like to remind visitors and tour guides alike to take note of the 'crime hotline' contact numbers, to which ANY suspicious activity is to be directly reported so it can be investigated by the team of professionals. Those numbers are: 32211 (SMS) and 08600 10111 (telephone). SMS' charged at R1. Crimeline's website: https://www.crimeline.co.za . Everybody, from members of the public visiting our parks on a one-off basis to guides who frequent our reserves, please keep these numbers handy and keep your eyes peeled for suspicious activity and suspicious vehicles. 

Following the news of the two poaching incidents in Eastern Shores, is it time to start regulating vehicles entering and leaving St Lucia (gateway to the Eastern Shores reserve) via the estuary bridge?

Rhinos allegedly poached in St Lucia's Western Shores

Wildlife poaching, and rhino poaching in particular, appears to be spiralling out of control, with more than 300 having been slaughtered in 2013 and we're not even halfway through the year. 

Just three short weeks after a letter from KZN Wildlife CEO Dr Bandile Mkize to the KwaZulu-Natal public was published, in which he applauded the province on its low rhino poaching statistics, it appears that during a poaching frenzy, 14 rhinos in South Africa were slaughtered in 48 hours, with four alledgedly poached in St Lucia's Western Shores reserve. At the time of print, we await confirmation from the park authority and will publish their response, once received.

While poachers appear to be armed with state-of-the-art equipment, St Lucia News would like to remind the public to take note of the 'crime hotline' contact numbers, to which ANY suspicious activity must be directly reported so it can be investigated by the team of professionals. Those numbers are: 32211 (SMS) and 08600 10111 (telephone). SMS' charged at R1. Crimeline's website: https://www.crimeline.co.za . Everybody, from members of the public visiting our parks on a one-off basis to guides who frequent our reserves, please keep these numbers handy and keep your eyes peeled for suspicious activity and suspicious vehicles. 

Our province saved the rhino from extinction in the past, surely we can do it again.

Road closed between Piet Retief and Ermelo

Amsterdam Municipal Offices today, burnt out during Service Delivery Riots

If you're travelling in that direction, St Lucia News has just heard that the road between Piet Retief and Ermelo is closed and most of the roads into and out of Amsterdam are also closed. Piet Retief is, however, open this morning with a skeleton staff managing the supermarket.

Piet Retief open for business

The service delivery protests in and around Piet Retief have abated today after 23 arrests. Unfortunately, this was not before two lives were lost over the last two days. Today, however, most businesses are open but operating with a skeleton staff. The accompanying photo shows protestors blocking one of the roads into the town.