PETER HAIN: Links must be made between political corruption and threats to wildlife

Wildlife poaching and political corruption are mostly seen in different SA silos. But in reality they are umbilically connected, as my new thriller demonstrates. 

The Elephant Conspiracy is set in the Free State, the chief political gangster there a man nicknamed Star. As purely a work of fiction, any resemblance to real life and a real person is obviously entirely coincidental.

Across Africa an elephant is slaughtered every 15 minutes — nearly 100 every day. In the early 1800s there were 26-million African elephants. Now there are fewer than 400,000. 

As the iconic conservationist Sir David Attenborough observes: “The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?”

Great charities such as Tusk campaign valiantly to protect these regal giants. But unless corruption is rooted out from top to bottom, the amazing work of conservationists and game rangers will always be an uphill battle.

For SA, winning that battle is not just about combating the real danger of extinction. It’s about tourism, vital jobs for local villagers in safari parks, and spreading prosperity.

Yet above the often-poor local poachers risking their lives on the ground are international crime syndicates, often based in East Asian countries such as China and Vietnam, with their insatiable thirst for ivory, protected by politicians and officials getting backhanders, and in my novel directing operations.

Wildlife lovers and dedicated game rangers who also risk their lives sometimes don’t see this bigger picture: not just into the world of state capture and political gangsterism, but the global banks, consultants, accountants, auditors and lawyers who facilitate the money-laundering that enables the looted poacher proceeds to reach their mafia-like mobster bosses.

Those who followed the Zondo state capture commission hearings — or who have read journalist Ferial Haffajee’s new book, Days of Zondo — will be all too familiar with the SA state capture scandal. But they may not link it to wildlife poaching, where game reserves sometimes resemble war zones, the military hardware ever more ominous, the ruthless killers ever more ruthless.

To fight all of this, politicos and conservationists need to come together, not confine themselves to their own worlds. The existential ecological threat makes this even more necessary.

Climate emergency and species extinction threats are all interconnected too. An elephant shot for its tusks no longer fertilises and forages, in the process assisting the local flora and fauna. Extreme droughts, storms and floods triggered by climate change devastate wildlife as well as humans. Yet only humans and our political leaders can arrest that.

The master criminals, and the political gangsters who shelter or direct them, are interested only in lining their pockets whatever eco-destruction or misery they cause.

Someone has to call a halt to this vicious spiral, and the characters in The Elephant Conspiracy are dedicated to that task, risking their safety.

I’ve written more than 20 nonfiction books, my memoir A Pretoria Boy the most recent. This foray into fiction aims at enjoyable escapism — but it’s with a purpose.

• Lord Hain is a former British anti-apartheid leader and cabinet minister.