By Makena Ngoato, licensed hunting outfitter and wildlife trader
Thirty-one years after the birth of democracy in South Africa, 100 per cent of the international wildlife market still belongs to white South Africans. Transformation is a talk show and a tool used by those in control of the land to push their self-enriching agenda and to give the land to their comrades and families.
Transformation is being hampered not by white people but by corrupt black government officials in the Department of Land Affairs. The current separation of government into the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Fisheries Forestry and Environment, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Land Affairs is problematic. These four departments are working in silos, and in most cases, the key department, Land Affairs, does not play an active role in transformation. According to Meta AI “[c]orruption in South Africa’s land administration is hindering transformation in the wildlife industry. The country’s land reform program is plagued by corrupt activities, including unlawful land acquisition by government officials and politically connected individuals, misuse of funds and resources meant for land reform and officials demanding bribes for land allocation and services.”
In 2019, just before Covid-19, I resigned from my full-time job to become a professional hunter. I had all my ducks in a row, but when Covid struck in 2020, my finances had to be redirected as the future was unpredictable at the time. Covid passed, and we all restarted and continued our journeys.
At this time, SAN Parks, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment offered assistance. They provided various resources, including training for new professional hunters and paving the route to the international market by taking some of the black hunting outfitters to international shows where they could learn how to market their businesses on an international level. The private sector also shared their knowledge and limited resources with emerging black individuals in the wildlife sector. In fact, most white people are doing more for emerging black professionals in the wildlife sector than Land Affairs when it comes to transformation. It is a pity that every time we talk about transformation, politicians blame white farmers when, in fact, the problem is Land Affairs.
Every year, game farms are advertised and people apply, but farms are given to people who have no knowledge of game farming. They cannot even identify the animals on the farm. These money-generating and job-creating farms are turned into family holiday homes for the first six months by new owners before Eskom cuts the electricity due to non-payment. Thereafter, everyone who owns a gun is invited to shoot the animals for free, provided that they shoot something for the farm owner. In some instances, hunters are charged ridiculously low prices that cannot even sustain the farm.
In less than a year, everything on the farm stops functioning, and cattle are introduced. The unintended consequence of this practice is that, in the next few years, there will be a shortage of game species, and the hunters will be scapegoats for the misdirection of resources by Land Affairs.
New entrants into the wildlife industry face the following obstacles:
- Land grabbing by politically connected individuals
- High start-up costs for acquiring land
- Poor onboarding programmes by the government
- High costs for refurbishing buildings, roads, fencing and other parts of infrastructure
- Limited assistance with infrastructure development
- High cost of acquiring game
- More restrictions for males over 35 years to lease land from government
- Limited access to international markets
- Unfavourable regulations
Requirements for the efficient management of a game farm include:
- A likely minimum of 1 000 hectares of land
- Well-furnished accommodation
- Vehicles for hunting and airport pickups
- A facility for slaughtering, processing and packing meat
- Salt room/trophy processing facility
- Wildlife management knowledge
- Knowledge of the needs of the species of game that will survive in the area and water sources
Another issue with Land Affairs is that, after buying a farm, it takes up to two years before it is allocated to the new owner. During this time, the farm is looted, animals die and the infrastructure collapses. In a nutshell, Land Affairs sets up a new black owner for failure.
To address this issue, South Africa needs to strengthen its anti-corruption framework, improve transparency and accountability, and ensure effective enforcement of laws and regulations.
Also read:
• ‘Meaningful transformation in agriculture is impossible without strong partnerships’
• Strategic partnerships driving transformation and inclusive growth
• Opinion: Reaping what we sow – Unlocking opportunities for youth in agribusiness
• Opinion: Skills development and growth for the agricultural sector
