Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

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Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

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Racism and inequality at Kruger Park: It’s like Animal Farm, say black employees
Sizwe sama Yende 2019-03-19 22:00



Black employees in the Kruger National Park claim that the park is rife with racism and inequality, bringing to mind George Orwell’s book Animal Farm, in which “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

The employees have accused the management of only acting against black employees – even on false allegations – while white employees are let off the hook.

City Press has seen copies of letters that some black employees addressed to SANParks management to complain about the unfair practices and, when they received no reply, they wrote to Parliament and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office to request an intervention.

Eubert Chabane, an employee benefits officer who was sacked on March 27 2017 for allowing his friend’s family to sleep at his official residence in Skukuza, the administrative headquarters and main camp of the Kruger National Park, accused management of being biased against black people.

Chabane is fighting his case in the labour court because he claims that he did not benefit, nor did he defraud SANParks, by hosting the family.

In his letter to Parliament, he wrote: “I have been expressing my frustration below and sent it to executives of SANParks … Dismissals are not consistent, have got eyes, colour, tribalism and nepotism … the human resources and labour relations [have] even [gone the] extra mile by tampering with evidence such as changing minutes of hearings, deleting evidence or deleting audio recordings.”

Black people, according to employees, are often accused of rhino poaching, and get assaulted by rangers and police to force them into confessing.

SANParks has denied the allegations that black and white employees are treated differently.

In their concerns, the employees list some examples of bias against black employees, including:

. Tommy Mokgakane was allegedly assaulted and suspended for more than 12 months after it was alleged he stole an R1 rifle and two rhino horns. He was later cleared due to a lack of evidence. According to documents City Press has seen, SANParks intended to discipline officials who kept Mokgakane suspended for such a long time;

. An employee was allegedly severely assaulted by rangers on suspicion of being a rhino poacher – the injuries resulted in him being unable to continue working. No evidence of his guilt was found;

. Jabulani Hlavangwani, a general worker, was dismissed for finding a pillow while he was busy emptying bins. The pillow had allegedly gone missing. Hlavangwani was fired after handing it over to management, who accused him of stealing it;

. Tshepo Chabane was allegedly targeted on suspicion of being a rhino poacher. When his official residence was searched, no rhino horns were found. Chabane was dismissed for theft after a bundle of toilet paper was found in his house; and

. Gideon Sibuyi was also allegedly assaulted after he was implicated in rhino poaching, but no evidence was found against him.

The employees also spoke of parallel cases against white employees accused of offences, but they were let off the hook.

A white employee, whose name was provided to City Press, was allegedly found in possession of rhino horns, but no action was taken against him.

Another white employee was allegedly found drinking while on duty. He allegedly gave his uniform to a guest and let the guest drive a SANParks safari vehicle.

The employee was dismissed, but was later reinstated.

SANParks spokesperson Isaac Phaahla said that, in all of the cases, due process was followed and SANParks had won all the those cases that had been referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

“There is always an internal disciplinary process that is undertaken when an employee is found to have acted improperly and against company policy. South Africa has labour laws that protect employees and employers, and SANParks is expected to act according to those laws. In these cases, the same approach was applied where an employee who is accused is presumed innocent until proven otherwise,” Phaahla said.

“In all the mentioned cases, due process was followed and there are documented records to show the matters were dealt with impartially regardless of race,” he added.

A SANParks employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he had decided to take the matter further after SANParks management did not act.

“There’s evidence, but SANParks is not acting and will keep on denying. We hope the president and the Public Protector will deal with these complaints after I submitted them,” he said.

https://city-press.news24.com/News/raci ... s-20190319


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Re: Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

Post by Lisbeth »

Now we have heard one side.

BTW I have never seen white employees in Sanparks. I know that there are rangers and guides, but I have never seen any -O-


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Re: Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

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There are lots, Lis! lol


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Re: Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

Post by Lisbeth »

I know there are, but that does not change the fact, that I have never seen any, if not in photos ;-)


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Re: Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

Post by okie »

Certainly there is absolute racism amongst SANPARKS staff .
A very very good friend of mine , after 8 years working for SP , could no longer take it , and lodged a complaint with SP as well as with the Human Rights Commission for blatant racism and racial hatred against himself and even sexual insults abuse against his wife , who also worked for SP .
SANPARKS never even responded ...........

They have resigned , left their posts and have since moved to New Zealand . They are white ..................


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Re: Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

Post by Lisbeth »

That's not only in the park but all over the place.


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Re: Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

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I'm with SANparks on this one. This sort of silly excuse is quite common when some are caught out...they never say what they actually did, obviously:


Chabane was dismissed for theft after a bundle of toilet paper was found in his house

A friend of mine was dismissed and told her colleagues it was because she stole a bag of ice. Meanwhile, she had been defrauding the company for thousands... O**


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Re: Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

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https://city-press.news24.com/News/krug ... s-20190403

Kruger Park: Rhino poaching used as an excuse to torture us, say black employees
Sizwe sama Yende
2019-04-03 23:00



Norman Lubisi was allegedly strangled and smothered with a refuse bag after he was coerced to confess to being a rhino poacher.

After many hours of torture, says Lubisi in an affidavit, his supervisor took him to the Skukuza police station for interrogation.

The 29-year-old is a field ranger at the Kruger National Park (KNP), where black employees say “every black man is a suspect for rhino poaching”.

The incident of torture, which took place on January 16, is one of many that have befallen black employees at the world-renowned park.

Black employees have claimed that their superiors easily torture and suspend them from work for even minor offences, but nothing is ever done against errant white employees.

A fortnight ago, City Press reported that some of the employees had complained to Parliament and President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Read: Racism and inequality at Kruger Park: It’s like Animal Farm, say black employees

Following the torture, Lubisi was suspended, even though no evidence linked him to rhino poaching.

Despite the criminal case being dismissed on January 18 at the Bushbuckridge magistrate’s court, he is still on suspension from work and it is unlikely that he will return soon.

“He strangled me and used a refuse bag to cover my face and suffocate me while he was insulting me, using the Shangaan language,” Lubisi said in his affidavit.

Lubisi said that the following day, he was taken to Bushbuckridge police station and released on free bail.

“I went back to work on January 28, but they [his superiors] refused to give me my R1 rifle that I am working with.”

He laid an assault charge against his supervisor, who cannot be named because he has not appeared in court.

Lubisi declined to comment to City Press last week because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Police said there was no record of the case number that Lubisi had given to City Press.

His mother, Elizabeth Sibiya (50), said that her son would have been back at work if he had not opened a case against his supervisor.

“My son was assaulted and detained for nothing. It is very sad that he is now also being prevented from returning to work because he laid an assault charge against the supervisor,” Sibiya said.

SA National Parks (SANParks) spokesperson Isaac Phaahla said he would not discuss disciplinary and criminal investigations with third parties.

“Both disciplinary cases and criminal investigations are highly confidential matters where the rights of all parties must at all times be respected and protected,” said Phaahla.

“SANParks is, accordingly, not at liberty to discuss the details, including charges and evidence in support of such charges, with any third party, including the media. Neither would we entertain any attempt to compromise these highly regulated processes and render them either procedurally or substantially flawed.

“We are, accordingly, in no position to divulge any information on the [police] or internal SANParks disciplinary processes involving either Mr Lubisi or [the supervisor]. Suffice to state that Mr Lubisi is currently suspended in accordance with SANParks policies, pending his disciplinary hearing scheduled for April. A grievance lodged against [the supervisor] is being investigated in accordance with the legal prescripts and policies of SANParks.”

Phaahla said that SANParks was infiltrated by organised criminal syndicates, who were driving the poaching scourge.

He said 34 rangers had been arrested for poaching since 2012 and those cases were on the court roll.

“We are aware that our rangers are being targeted for their diligent work by the same syndicates through disinformation using various platforms, including the media. We have confidence in our Ranger Corps as an organisation but do not discount the fact that some might be working against the organisation in assisting criminals,” Phaahla said.

Referring to allegations of racism against black employees as baseless and untrue, Phaahla said that 78% of the KNP’s 2 236 employees were African and only 9.5% were white.

“The demographics show that Africans are in the majority and are likely to feature highly in all aspects, including issues of disciplinary action,” he said.

“The reality is that the organisation is intolerant of ill discipline and criminality, and anyone who breaks the disciplinary code is subjected to a hearing regardless of race or creed.”

The case of a tortured field ranger who sued

In 2015 a field ranger, Tommy Mogakane, was also subjected to torture – almost in the same way as Lubisi – on suspicion of rhino poaching.

Members of the Hawks and the KNP’s environmental crime investigation unit demanded safe keys from Mogakane to look for horns and firearms in his official residence at the park.

No horns were found, but his firearms were confiscated. Mogakane was then taken to the unit’s office in Skukuza, where the 24-hour torture began.

According to evidence Mogakane presented to the Pretoria High Court, his face was covered with a masking tape, and he was ordered to sit on the floor with his legs stretched over while his hands were handcuffed. Mogakane was then covered with a tyre tube around his neck and it rested on his shoulders.

He was hanged “almost like a dead animal put up to dry” and then assaulted all over his body.

After being assaulted for 24 hours, Mogakane was dumped on the road until somebody assisted him to get to the hospital. When he came back from hospital, the police detained him at Skukuza on December 16.

After he sued the police, the Pretoria High Court ordered them to pay him R350 000 for unlawful arrest, detention and assault on December 20 2017.

Now Sibiya said her family was contemplating suing SANParks and the police for her son’s torture.


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Re: Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

Post by Lisbeth »

:-?


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Re: Racism Accusations Amongst Kruger Park Staff

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Playing the race card to get what they want as in everything in this pathetic s...hole country :evil:


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KNP: May be one day again??
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