Johannes Cornelius Visagie felt he was perfectly entitled to solicit trophy-hunting clients in the name of Boss Safaris, pocket the proceeds and sell the meat. A judge of the North West Division of the High Court disagreed. The professional hunter was slapped with trial costs and is now deeply out of pocket. 

According to court papers, Visagie had said he would kill anybody who interfered with his livelihood or “messed with” his family or home. Pointing at Boss Safaris co-owner Carol Muller, he added: “Like this bitch; I would kill her.” 

Apart from a court battle over the right to hunt, Boss now wants the return of the skins of seven lions shot on the farm Wegdraai where they have hunting rights. But the local Sheriff has confiscated the skins and their fate is unknown.

North West is hunting country, with extensive bushveld and grassy plains criss-crossed by rivers and wetlands. It’s home to a rich diversity of wildlife, including lions, elephants, rhinos, buffaloes and various antelope species. Needless to say, it is a magnet for hunters seeking trophies.

The farm in question, Wegdraai, is owned by the Tshidimolondo community near Vryburg in the former Bophuthatswana homeland. In 2020 it was leased by Boss Safaris, originally for biltong hunting. Visagie was allegedly employed by them, but claimed he was a shareholder. 

Carol Muller of Boss suspected he was illegally culling wildlife from the farm and selling the meat. He was also allegedly bringing in trophy hunters and using the owner’s lodge without permission.

Muller hired a helicopter to do a game count and found many animals were missing.

When confronted, Visagie – according to the judge’s summation – “reacted with hostility but nevertheless continued with unsanctioned hunts.”

Death threat

At a gathering on 20 June 2021, according to Brittany Muller, Carol’s daughter-in-law, Visagie threatened to kill her mother-in-law.

“He continued to assure me that he was not making an idle threat,” Brittany told the court, “and how serious he was that he would, without a doubt, kill her if she did anything that threatened his livelihood on the farm because, according to him, that is his home and without it he has nothing.”

The following day, Carol Muller said she would be resigning from Boss Safaris, but it is unclear from the court papers whether she did so. 

Muller, who owns the security company Red Ants, arrived at the farm shortly thereafter to retrieve animals owned by Boss Safaris. Visagie refused to open the gate, so Muller broke the lock. Then, according to her, Visagie released three lions into the property, presumably to deter her from entering.

According to Visagie, he was selling hunts and meat to recoup what Boss owed him for commission and professional hunter fees, which he said was in excess of R790,000. He denied he was selling hunts in the name of Boss Safaris, but with permission of the local community, and that he owned the animals.

Acting Judge Henry Petersen could find no evidence of the money owed to Visagie, no invoices submitted to him for payment, no evidence that the animals hunted did not belong to Boss Safaris and that he was the one paying the lease on the farm, as he claimed.

In carefully worded legalese, the judge concluded that “these contentions are mutually destructive and demonstrative of being self-created to establish a non-existent dispute of fact.”

He said Visagie had failed to prove he had not threatened the life of Carol Muller. He was ordered to pay all costs incurred by the applicants (Boss Safaris).

It is unlikely that he will be permitted to remain on the farm and hunt.

And Carol Muller will probably– for some time to come – be watching her back. DM