The Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, one of the biggest state-owned nature conservation entities in the country, says it had to fire three of its top executives to cleanse and stabilise itself after years of turbulence and rampant looting.

This was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the entity, Sihle Mkhize, during a media presentation at the flagship Hluhluwe-Imfolozi game reserve, the oldest park in the country, on Tuesday.

Mkhize said when he took over a few years ago, he found the organisation in tatters and there were allegations of corruption in the media. At the height of the massive looting, a service provider that was tasked with managing a facility for Ezemvelo brazenly pocketed the earnings and refused to hand them over as stipulated in their contract.

A litigation is underway to recoup that money from the service provider and blacklist it from doing business with Ezemvelo again.

To get to the bottom of this, Mkhize said they had to ask the board to authorise a forensic investigation to look into the allegations. It was after that investigation that they had to fire the three top executives.

“As a result of that, about three senior executive managers have been dismissed and I think that helped to put the messages into saying when we want to stabilise the organisation, we must remove the rot so that the organisation can focus on its mandate,” Mkhize said.

Furthermore, Mkhize said they had to take drastic steps to stem the tide against rhino poaching by subjecting all the frontline employees to polygraph tests. Although there was some resistance, the unions and employees eventually allowed it after he volunteered to be the first one to take it.

He said they then took a decision that those who failed the tests be moved away from the rhinos that were being poached in large numbers.

Despite the positive turnaround, Mkhize said they “are not out of the woods yet,” but that they are in the right direction.