Villagers fear for their lives

RESIDENTS of Muyexe village near Giyani say they are living in fear of the wild animals that come into their village after the electric fence that separates the village from the Kruger National Park was damaged by elephants.

Hosi Muyexe Ben Maluleke spoke to CV on Monday. He says he suspects the elephants were after the marula fruit that grow near the village when they breached the fence.

According to Maluleke, the department of rural development and land reform installed a 17km electric fence to prevent wild animals from wandering into the village and now their only defense against the animals is compromised. “It has been weeks since the fence was compromised. The fence is not electrified anymore and we’ve had no help from the park or any rangers,” he explains.

“Sometimes when we call them for help, they say they don’t have any vehicles to come out. Just today a cow was killed by hyenas only a few metres from a residential area. We live in fear because we don’t know what lurks in the bushes,” he says.

Godfrey Nkuna says two of his goats went missing, but he is too scared to go and look for them. “It is too risky to be in the bush after what happened to that cow. Lions could be roaming the area looking for an easy prey,” he says.

The Kruger National Park’s head of communication, William Mabasa denies that the fence was compromised. “I flew over that area myself yesterday and I did not see any breach,” he says.

According to Mabasa, villagers in the area know which rangers to contact should they encounter any wild animals around their villages.