I think you're probably jumping the gun a little here. You have to understand that the PH is bound by the Game Ordinance of the province which will say he has to track the wounded animal as far as possible but he's not allowed by law to go onto land owned by a third part without permission.

I wasn't there and don't know the whole story but my guess is that after the client wounded the animal they tracked it until it crossed onto the neighbours land at which point they abandoned the hunt and returned to base to ask the neighbour's permission for them to cross onto his land and continue the pursuit. (probably the next morning) To assist in this the client arranged for a chopper to help in locating the Elephant. Once located and permission obtained the hunting party crossed onto the new land and finished the job.

I personally don't like hunting DG in SA because of the game fence issue and other issues, but in this case I think you'll find both client & PH behaved in a perfectly legal & ethical manner.