Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has issued Mawana Game Reserve (MGR) near Ulundi with a 14-day final compliance notice following the entity’s failure to maintain the reserve according to the approved management plan.

Infringements include failure to provide adequate enclosure of the property and failure to manage Mawana elephants according to the approved management plan for elephants.

This comes after an outcry from community members expressing their fears of the elephants that roam around their areas.

The most recent incident occurred on Friday when a cattle herdsman came across a herd of elephants.

The elephants reportedly appeared irritated and made some noise indicating their irritation.

According to Ezemvelo communications manager Musa Mntambo, a bull elephant sprinted towards a man and lifted him up.

“Thinking quickly, he realised that running was no longer an option. He pretended to be dead as the bull elephant continued to kick him around.

“When the herd of elephants moved away, he crawled up the hill and called for help. Unfortunately, no help came until Saturday when another herdsman who was looking for his cattle spotted him and called for assistance. He was rushed to hospital where he was admitted,” says Mntambo.

He says following this unfortunate incident, Ezemvelo has resolved to issue MGR with a 14-day compliance notice in which several activities have to be undertaken to prevent such incidents from reoccurring.