The mentorship of black stud breeders in North West is beginning to bear fruit, with Bonsmara breeders who have developed together as a group over the past decade providing strong support at the fourth production auction of the Moalosi Bonsmara stud. The auction, hosted by Duncan Serapelwane, was held on 30 June at the Vryburg showgrounds.
By Johan Norval
Serapelwane, who serves on the board of SA Stud Book, started farming with Bonsmara cattle in 2002 with 22 cows. His stud was registered with Bonsmara SA in 2007 and he currently farms with approximately 300 breeding cows on the border between South Africa and Botswana.
Serapelwane and his friend, Christopher Melamu of the Lamu Bonsmara stud near Vryburg, were recognised by SA Stud Book in 2021 as North West Bonsmara breeders who had progressed from developing farmers and now serve as mentors to others.
Melamu was a guest seller at the Moalosi auction and his bull, ZEF 220208, was the top-priced bull of the sale at R280 000. The buyer was Thato Malope of the Free State. Serapelwane’s bull, MDS 230097, was the second most expensive, selling for R220 000 to Walther Motati, who farms near Stella and Zeerust.
Motati also paid the highest price of R550 000 for the Moalosi bull MDS 210053 at Serapelwane’s second production auction in 2021.
“We have made significant progress and this is the ultimate goal that we as black breeders have always strived for,” said Melamu.
Two years ago, Serapelwane began donating Bonsmara heifers to young people to help them establish their own herds. He believes in focused genetic improvement and aims to expand his herd by strengthening its genetic base.
The average price of the stud bulls at the 2026 auction was R96 499. Stud heifers averaged R14 500, pregnant cows with calves (3-in-1) R30 400, cows with calves R24 886, pregnant cows R21 222, pregnant heifers R21 158 and commercial heifers were sold for an average price of R15 525.
The auction was conducted by André Kock en Seun in collaboration with the SwiftVEE platform. Johan van der Nest was the auctioneer.
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