A fond farewell and best wishes to three of our pack members

Chris Joubert

Cath Vise, Soutpansberg Protected Area Manager

Chris Joubert, our Medike Nature Reserve & Eco-Tourism Manager, will sadly be leaving Medike and the EWT at the end of March 2023, and I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to him for all his efforts in the Soutpansberg.

Chris – thank you so much for all your hard work over the past two years. For the endless hours fixing old infrastructure and questionable plumbing, wrangling multiple contractors to get upgrades done, and keeping Medike and our rangers safe and sound. Thank you, especially for all your efforts in opening up Thomas Wilson Pass – the many long hours in the heat of the bush, enduring all the Mopani Bee bites, early mornings, late evenings, and a lot of excavator issues and breakdowns. The road is spectacular and something you can be extremely proud of. Thank you for taking so much care while manoeuvring an excavator through such a sensitive environment. It is very rough terrain and not easy for building a road, and I am so impressed that you and Frank (the excavator driver) managed to get through some of the areas you did and that we can now drive from Medike West to East, on the most spectacular 4×4 mountain pass. I am sure all who drive it will love and be grateful for it!

Thank you for being the friendly, welcoming face of Medike, for guiding and contributing to the development of our now Green Flag accredited Old Salt Trail, for managing marathon support stations and ensuring trails were good to go, for looking after visiting students, and especially for the role you play in our mountain conservation community.

I’d like to wish you all the best and good luck in your new opportunities. Enjoy the dry, northern side of our mountain and remember that you are always welcome at Medike and will always be part of our extended EWT Soutpansberg family.

Suzette Britz

Emily Taylor, EWT Communications Manager

Suzette joined the EWT in October 2021 during a whirlwind time for the Communications and Marketing Department with lots of projects that needed design assistance and us a short way into our biggest project of the year – the annual Integrated Report. She hit the ground running – calm, collected, and extremely capable – she took it in her stride and, despite the pressure, produced incredible work time and again. In 2022, Suzette was tasked with a mammoth project – revamping our digital platforms and website. For those of you who saw our previous site, I’m sure you will agree that the new site is streets ahead, both to look at and to use. Few people realise the work that goes on behind the scenes in a project like that, and despite performing all her day-to-day graphic work, she delivered a flawless product in record time.

As a fairly new manager, it was a great relief to have her working beside me – taking on any task I threw at her capably and calmly. I never had to worry that she wouldn’t deliver or impress. We have received nothing but praise for our digital and print materials produced during Suzette’s time with the EWT, and she leaves a truly remarkable legacy with designs that will be used and loved for years to come.

Thank you, Suzette, for your hard work and commitment, your calm in sometimes turbulent waters, and your support and friendship. The EWT is honoured and grateful for all you have achieved in your time with us, and we wish you all the best for your bright future. You will always be part of the EWT family.

Sean Kelly

Dr Andrew Taylor and Shadi Henrico, EWT Wildlife in Trade Programme

Sean Joined our EWT canine unit in September 2021 to work with us on our IUCN SOS project to deploy conservation dogs to reserves with important populations of threatened species. Sean brought many years of dog handling experience with him and strengthened our team considerably. He is very energetic and is constantly on the go, and even when not working with the dogs, he makes sure everything involving the infrastructure needed for the dogs is functioning. As one would hope for in a good dog handler, Sean always put the dogs first and even took on the responsibility of housing two of our working dogs at home when we were short of kennel space. We are very thankful to Sean for his hard work and commitment to our dog projects and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.