The disagreement about managing the overpopulation of animals in Marloth Park took another turn this week after the Marloth Park Ratepayers Association (MPRA) again threatened to take legal action.

This follows a court order granted by acting judge Naomi Engelbrecht to the NSPCA, forcing the Nkomazi Local Municipality (NLM) to start controlling the population of animals.

Animal numbers have been spiralling out of control over the past seven years. No culling has been done in the holiday town since November 2017 when the MPRA applied for an interdict to stop the reduction of animals in the park by culling them. Over the years, the number of animals has more than quadrupled and has reached the point where droves of animals are dying of hunger, malnutrition, TB and injuries caused predominantly by fighting over food, forcing game rangers to shoot them.

Engelbrecht ordered the NLM to ‘do all necessary things to immediately manage the population crisis of wildlife within Marloth Park humanely and as a matter of urgency’.

A meeting was held on Monday, December 2, after the NLM had called on all interested parties to give feedback on the way forward since the court order was granted. Edgar Shongwe, head of the NLM’s legal department, read out the court order and said plans on how it will be implemented would be announced soon.

However, chaos erupted when the legal adviser for the MPRA indicated that court papers are ready to be filed to stop the process of managing animals, should shooting to cull be used.

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A tourist to Marloth Park, Leonie Jordaan, shared this video of a ‘resident’ tortoise drinking water after a feast of apples and carrots. Jordaan appeals to residents and visitors to Marloth Park to consider little water oases like this in their gardens for birds and small animals. #marlothpark #tortoise #tortoises #tortoisesoftiktok #wild #mpumalanga #krugernationalpark

♬ original sound – Lowveld Media

The meeting turned into a shouting match as various interested parties’ opinions about this legal threat and about what some called the apparent Stalingrad tactics used by the MPRA to derail the matter, were flung around.

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Elizma Olivier from Mbombela shared this video with Lowvelder. According to her, her family was enjoying a braai on Saturday night, March 3, in Marloth when this shy galago came for a quick visit. Video: Lizette Olivier #galago #bush #bushbaby #marlothpark #marloth #wildsightings #wildlife #shy #animalsoftiktok

♬ Dance Monkey (Jedag Jedug) – EVS Remix

In a statement, the Marloth Park Property Owners Association accused the MPRA of once again using legal threats to try and intimidate the municipality and threaten the ecosystem of Marloth Park. “Please let’s just let the municipality do what needs to be done,” the statement said.

For the umpteenth time these past few months, questions sent to MPRA about its legal actions went unanswered.