Why is pushing for the protection of African elephants so hard? Because the illegal ivory trade isn’t just something happening on the outskirts of society. In fact, it’s deeply embedded. Case and point: last week a top parks official in South Africa was accused of poaching.

Agency chief executive Charles Ndabeni implicated the top officials in a report submitted to the department of Jabu Mahlangu, provincial economic development minister, after a two-week wildcat strike at the agency.

The report points a finger at chief operating officer Edward Thwala and provident fund official Bheki Malaza, saying: “It is alleged that Mr Thwala and Mr Malaza are part of the syndicate … responsible for the poaching in our parks/reserves.”

Ndabeni also claims that he and two other employees, project specialist Dries Pienaar, who also represents the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), and the general manager of wildlife protection services, Jan Muller, were targets of a planned robbery of the agency’s ivory and rhino-horn stockpile.

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Image: exfordy