Durban — Tasked with ensuring that KwaZulu-Natal’s rich heritage of flora and fauna was preserved and prospered for generations to come, Cedric Coetzee is hanging up his well-worn velskoen with a sense of accomplishment.
After 42 years as a conservationist for Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the custodians of biodiversity in the province, Coetzee retired as regional manager, East on February 29.
He had oversight of all the protected areas on KZN’s seaboard – about 1700km of coastline and 30km inland.
In his care were places like the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (Africa’s oldest game park), Tembe Elephant Park, Ndumo Game Reserve, all the nature reserves and conservation areas in Durban and South Coast and various districts.
Some of his other responsibilities were managing permits for protected plants and animals.
Coetzee, 65, has been a manager since 1994 and is a respected figure in local conservation circles. Among his awards is the 2017/18 South African National Parks Kudu Award for his role in protecting rhinos.
While his departure leaves considerable velskoen (bush shoes) to fill, Coetzee will still serve Ezemvelo in his role with the World Wide Fund for Nature, doing rhino protection work. Coetzee said he left Ezemvelo satisfied he had done a “good job”.
“With time, things change, but we have managed to maintain protected areas as they are, which are meaningful to the province and the country.
“In spite of the challenges and financial constraints, you won’t go to a rundown facility. Yes, some need maintenance, but we’ve kept them clean. The nature conservation experience is still there.”
He said it was “extremely rewarding” to know that Ezemvelo facilities had high visitor numbers.
“Hluhluwe-iMfolozi, Krantzkloof Nature Reserve, Kenneth Stainbank and other facilities have huge benefits for KZN and its people and that has been a big achievement for me.”
Coetzee said traversing the province’s bushveld, the ocean and its coral reefs and the mountains, was a range of experiences that all rolled into one.
“I don’t think many people realise how intricately linked the Zulu and KZN’s culture are to biodiversity and nature conservation of this province.
“Like how the Imfolozi area was the original hunting ground for King Shaka, the battlefields in the west are now nature reserves. Nkandla has a huge role in our province’s culture.
“Those are some of the things that people miss if they are on a visit purely looking for animals. Once you get into it, it is very interesting. It affirms the Zulu kingdom,” he said.
Coetzee said his favourite places in his area of jurisdiction included the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve.
“We have a Cape vulture breeding colony on the western heights. It’s unbelievable to sit at the top of the gorge and the vultures fly right past. You will hear their wings going through the wind.
“The other places I enjoy are the Oribi and Krantzkloof Gorges, the uMlalazi estuary with its salt marshes, and the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park is a great heritage to the province.”
Other sites to visit were the Tembe Elephant Park and its original migratory big tusker elephants.
“They are magnificent animals. Then there are the coral reefs and turtles at Isimangaliso,” he said.
He lists the time when scuba diving “exploded”, with the Aliwal Shoal (near Umkomaas on the South Coast) and Sodwana reefs becoming diving hot spots, as one of his stand-out experiences.
“That was like the start of the outdoor adventure era and extreme sports.”
Coetzee said scuba diving emerged in the late 1980s when the conservation custodians were the old Natal Parks Boards, which became the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service, before Ezemvelo took root in 1997.
He wished that iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a world heritage site, had remained in the Ezemvelo stable and had not been moved into the hands of the national government (Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment) because it was a crown jewel for KZN.
“The iSimangaliso Authority is doing a good job; I think it’s like a good soccer player who leaves your team, and is playing for another team. The sport doesn’t suffer, but your team does suffer.”
While Ezemvelo handles iSimangaliso’s conservation, Coetzee said the park “would have been a huge benefit to our stable because we don’t have the tourism rights to earn income from it”.
Rhino poaching, especially at Hluhluwe, also weighed heavily on Coetzee’s conservation consciousness.
Last month DFFE minister Barbara Creecy announced that of the nearly 500 rhinos that were poached around the country in 2023, of those 307 were recorded in Hluhluwe.
“People are after the last rhino, and we have them here (Hluhluwe).”
Coetzee explained that while poachers were prolific in hunting for dollar-fetching horns, Ezemvelo managed to sustain their rhino population with horns with their own intervention programmes, which was a difficult task.
“Our facility has been coming under more and more pressure because populations elsewhere were disappearing.
“That is what we are experiencing now.”
“It’s a horrible success story to have the last drop of water after managing your water well. Everyone is going to come after you.
“The criminal syndicates have their efforts trained on Hluhluwe-Imfolozi.”
He said rhinos were worth more dead than alive. The security costs and risks have turned-off game parks from keeping them.
Coetzee was born and bred in Durban and is a former Glenwood High School pupil, whose first job was with a bank.
He jumped at the opportunity when he spotted an advert for a nature conservation ranger and, he said, the rest was history.
He started working as a fisheries officer on the coast for the Natal Parks Board.
I had some experience of living in the bush and living on the coast.
“In those days you didn't need to have a nature conservation diploma or degrees. I had a matric and was accepted.”
He said migrating between Durban’s ocean and harbour stirred his interest in nature and conservation.
“I grew up amongst the seine netters who operated at Vetchies beach and also frequented Salisbury Island.”
With time, Coetzee said his conservation knowledge and awareness grew from his association with various experts and on the job learning.
His future plans include archiving all the information and material he collected over the years, especially scuba diving.
“I want to make sure it is properly recorded for the province. Digitising will be a home project and I will get killed if I didn't say I got more duties with kids and grandkids.”
Musa Mntambo, Ezemvelo’s communication’s head said they were yet to find a replacement for Coetzee, which would be an arduous process.
He maintained that Coetzee’s retirement was a “bittersweet” experience.
“On one hand, we are celebrating his achievements and contributions, on the other hand, we naturally feel a sense of loss, considering the wealth of experience and knowledge he takes with him,” Mntambo said.
Independent on Saturday