Nicky Erasmus, operations director of Dark Water Ops, has announced his departure from anti-poaching work in Nelson Mandela Bay after three decades. He is taking up a new security role with an international mining company in Africa.
Last week Erasmus posted on social media about leaving his position fighting perlemoen poaching. He had worked in conservation since his teenage years, inspired by his late father, Captain Rassie Erasmus.
In 2017 he founded Dark Water Ops, which focused on anti-poaching operations. Erasmus helped recover 350 tonnes of perlemoen and contributed to more than 900 arrests, including two kingpins. Notable successes included dismantling a R100-million illegal enterprise and recovering 750kg of cocaine.
He described the decision as difficult but said the new mining security position offers an opportunity he could not refuse. Erasmus will continue as a witness in ongoing court cases. DWO will keep operating without him.
