Durban - Seven years after reclaiming 17 000 hectares of farmland, the Thisivhula community of Limpopo believed better days had arrived after striking a deal to provide hunting adventures for rich Europeans.
The planned five days of driven hunting across four reclaimed farms in the town of Alldays last week, turned out to be a profitable venture for Thisivhula’s people. But they never bargained on the scathing criticism and “insults” fired at them, mainly from local “white people”.
It might have damaged their future business prospects.
So says Simon Mafela, secretary of the Thisivhula Communal Property Association (CPA), the organisation given ownership of the land in 2008.
Mafela said after all their effort and expense to draw overseas clientele he feared the “unfair” and negative publicity had cut their revenue stream.
During the five days, it was reported that 83 “chasers” (people all dressed in bright overalls) formed a 1km-long chain and walked through the farms forcing animals into a cleared area where the 13 foreign hunters waited on wooden platforms to take aim.
“Mostly white people accused us of being barbaric and bringing shame to South Africa,” he said.
“I think some were jealous that black people were making money,” Mafela argued.
He said detractors had time to raise their concerns before the hunt began but had chosen to “press buttons” at a strategic time, which caused an explosion in the media.
Mafela also fears for his own safety. “We feel threatened,” he said.
Last week was the first time the association had hosted overseas guests.
The association, with a membership of approximately 500 people, still has pending claims on 100 other farms.
“When we became beneficiaries in 2008, we couldn’t get government grants to sustain ourselves. We survived off the rental income received from the previous owners,” Mafela said.
He said once the rent dried up they had to apply for recapitalisation from the government. To qualify, they needed a business plan, a mentor or strategic partner who would help make their business viable and profitable.
They needed to consult a professional to formulate an environmental health plan.
They chose Bono Farm Management, which received government approval and formed a company – Alldays Development – in 2012 to handle business on the four farms.
Mafela said they chose to have driven hunting on their farm and they were not “bullied” into it by Bono.
“The most disappointing thing about all the criticism is that we did not hide anything from anyone. We had government officials inspecting the farms all the time,” he said.
The Department of Environmental Affairs approved the Ammondale Lodge and 10 days before the hunt, the Green Scorpions gave their approval for the hunt.
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During the days of hunting, representatives from the SPCA, the Green Scorpions and the Department of Environmental Affairs observed proceedings. Legally, we had done everything required of us,” Mafela said.
About animals being driven by chasers, Mafela said animals could move in any direction, only the ones that went into the open area were shot.
“But it’s not easy to shoot the animals because they are moving and the hunters are not allowed to shoot at groups of animals. Hunters went on walk and stalk hunts on some days and they were able to shoot more animals than from the platform. Hunters also could not shoot randomly at animals, only at ones approved by the 14 professional hunters on duty,” Mafela said.
People claimed 200 animals were shot in a day, “That’s not true, only a hundred animals were killed the entire week,” Mafela responded.
“We’re not stupid to kill all our animals in one year, we understand they are a resource we have to sustain.”
Sunday Tribune