Peter Hain's latest powerful thriller is the sequel to THE RHINO CONSPIRACY, which I had not read, but I already understood the subject matter. In case there is anyone left unaware, both rhinos and elephants are well on the road to extinction because rich people want their horns or tusks. THE ELEPHANT CONSPIRACY shows how the author believes this is occurring with wanton murder, not just of animals but of anyone who tries to interfere.
Thandi Matjeke, a strong young woman in South Africa, is offered a political position at the start of this story, but she turns it down. She wants to get work done, not be visible and bribed. Today’s nation, we learn, is a long way removed from the subjects of the author Peter Hain’s earlier books. He has written about growing up in South Africa, and biographies of the late Nelson Mandela, the freedom activist. Neither the apartheid state nor the heady start of freedom survives in this telling.
Ivory tusk sales are dependent upon poachers, and the illegal wildlife trade prospers through corruption. Isaac Mkhize is caring for the remaining elephants in southern Africa, escorting tourists as a game warden, who provides a great deal of information about the largest land mammal and many others he encounters. Opposed to the good works are people like Star, a district president, whose only desire is to enrich himself and his cronies. Ivory is just one method. The notorious South African “State Capture” means the district awards a contract and pays for building works, but they never happen, and the money vanishes, siphoned off through banks in the Middle Eastern nation Dubai. Accountants in London, New York, and Hong Kong assist in covering the traces. Nobody investigates, or if they do, they are fired or killed. Peter Hain doesn’t mince his words as he largely reprises factual books and journalism, laying the blame where he feels it belongs.
Some of the dirty money is used to hire a professional assassin from Northern Ireland. This shows how the money circulates to fund terrorism. I felt this character was discussed at too great length, seeming to be an effort to make the book more relevant to British readers, when the action occurs in South Africa and doesn’t require further complexity.
THE ELEPHANT CONSPIRACY is not easy to read, for anyone who loves wildlife or cares about social justice and equality. The South Africa depicted is fast going down the drain, with everything from houses to sewerage works left unfinished. Charities are shown stepping up where successive governments thieve and run up World Bank debt. Thandi Matjeke, a woman trying to survive, grumpily blames men for these ills. The style of the book – masculine, soaked in blood and blown dust – reminds me of the crime novels about a South African police officer by Paul Mendelson. THE ELEPHANT CONSPIRACY will reach an audience that prefers fiction and absorbs information from well-written thrillers, with sources cited for further reading in case some think it unbelievable. Just don’t get too attached to anyone.
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