During several expeditions to describe the species of the Okavango Delta, Eastern Cape conservationist Dr Werner Conradie not only wrote a PhD thesis, he also discovered at least eight new species, most of them snakes.

Accolades aside, the scientist hopes his work will contribute to the protection of the precious and unique natural area.

Conradie is the curator of herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians) at Bayworld, a natural and cultural history museum in Gqeberha. Last month he received his doctorate in nature conservation at Nelson Mandela University’s George Campus.

Growing up in the Karoo, first in Willowmore and then in Uniondale, snakes were not his first love.

“I liked frogs,” he said. “The only time I dealt with snakes was when they tried to catch my frogs.”

But when he started working at Bayworld he became interested in the lives of snakes.

For his thesis, he studied the reptiles and amphibian species of the Okavango River Basin, an area that has not received much attention because of the civil war in Angola.

The survey started in 2012 and continued until 2019. The snakes and amphibians found included some species not seen before in Angola and some newly discovered ones.

“Additionally, the novel data generated allowed us to identify the headwaters as an area of high diversity and endemism that translates to high conservation importance,” Conradie said.

Headwaters is a term scientists use to describe a river close to its source.

“By protecting the headwaters of the Okavango River Basin, we protect the world-renowned delta and its abundance of wildlife, together with the lifeline these waters provide to humans as well,” he said.

Conradie said the civil war in Angola has led to the Angolan side of the Okavango Delta being neglected in terms of research but, because of its isolation and the danger of landmines, the area had been protected.

Now this part of the delta is starting to face the pressures of deforestation, pieces of land being cleared, the bushmeat trade and the collection of honey, which will affect the water quality and quantity.

“This study showed the massive ecological riches the Angolan highlands possesses, and provided background, as well as assessments of reptiles and amphibian species.

“Losing the quality of this complex river system… would result in immeasurable loss, both economically and ecologically,” Conradie said.

Conradie started his job as the curator at Bayworld in 2007.

Delta in danger

“I was always keen to do a PhD,” he said. And so the making of an adventure in the Okavango started. “The Okavango Delta… is an area rich in biodiversity and one of the areas in the world with the largest population of elephants,” he said.

“The delta is fed by water from Angola that flows through Angola and Namibia, so if something was to happen to the water along the way we can potentially lose what we have in the delta.”

He said there are concerns about the delta, including a reduction in the amount of water flowing in, a delay in seasonal flooding and a drop in the bird population.

“We wanted to find out what was causing this. The eight new species we found was almost by accident,” he said.

Five were new species of snakes. He is now working on describing a sixth new one. The researchers studied the snakes in the finest detail, comparing genetic samples to confirm a new species.

“It takes about three years to describe a new species,” he said.

One of the newly described species from the delta was a water snake.

Read more in Daily Maverick: New species of Amazon anaconda, world’s largest snake, discovered

“The others are what we call terrestrial snakes. They eat frogs. An interesting one was the shovel-snouted snake. This one eats eggs and its snout is perfectly formed to cut through the shells,” Conradie said.

Two of the other species were new geckos.

“The one lived in an area where the river didn’t flow fast and the other where the river flowed strongly and the water ran over waterfalls and many rocks and cliffs,” he said.

“We also found a new type of frog, similar to the one the people in Namaqualand call the reënpadda,” he said.

Conradie’s colleagues who accompanied him also worked on describing bird species, dragonflies and fish.

Landmines and lions

But doing research in the Okavango Delta came with its own unique obstacles.

“Where we worked there still are a lot of landmines. So we were limited in where we could go. At one of the rivers we wanted to set up camp, and Halo, the demining company that accompanied us, said we can, but only on the right side and only under the bridge, nowhere else. When we woke up we saw the guys picking up landmines on the other side of the river,” he said.

Read more in Daily Maverick: The ghost elephants haunting Angola

“In the southeast, we had a few encounters with lions and elephants but the higher up we went the fewer of those we saw,” he said.

He said he never felt unsafe. “We had the guys from Halo with us all the time… It is a rough life doing these expeditions. You live on rice and beans and you sleep in a one-man tent. You must bring everything in and take everything out again with you.”

But, Conradie added, it was worth it.

“It is a unique area on Earth… I am hoping our research will lead to it being declared a national park.”

It is a place of great beauty and peace.

“It is the world out there that is more scary,” Conradie said. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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Each morning at breakfast, my partner gives me orange juice that tastes more sour than expected. One day, she explained that she adds apple cider vinegar to improve my health.

As a former primary schoolteacher she swears by the stuff. She tells me she kept apple cider vinegar in the staff room so that when children became ill with diarrhoea and vomiting, she could take it immediately to protect her from the illness.

I was sceptical about yet another immune-boosting miracle ingredient. Apple cider vinegar is a natural product made of fermented apple juice that has gone sour. Apparently, the best stuff is cloudy and has sediment, known as the “mother”, because it is relatively unfiltered – this is where the good bacteria lives. Without the mother, there’s unlikely to be much benefit to taking apple cider vinegar.

But is there any real benefit in the first place? I decided to turn medical sleuth and investigate whether apple cider vinegar is as good for health as it sounds. There isn’t as much scientific evidence to support its popularity as a health tonic as some influencers might like to think.

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Earlier on Tuesday night ActionSA Chairperson Michael Beaumont confirmed that both Ngobeni and Gafane had been victims of hijacking and that they were missing.

Chairperson of ActionSA’s Youth Forum Hluphi Gafane (Photo: ActionSA)

“ActionSA Leadership is working closely with the families, vehicle tracking company and law enforcement agencies. Everything that can be done to expedite the safe return of our leaders is being done,” Beaumont said in an internal letter addressed to “Colleagues”. Beaumont on Tuesday night confirmed to Daily Maverick the validity of the letter.

Any information or sightings of the vehicle can be sent to Bafana at 069 945 3353

We are working closely with Funzi and Hluphi's families, the vehicle tracking company, and law enforcement agencies.

Please hold Funzi and Hluphi and their families in your thoughts and pray for… pic.twitter.com/ydx9MDGzpE

— ActionSA Gauteng (@ActionSA_GP) May 7, 2024

However, on Tuesday around 11pm Beaumont updated colleagues that both leaders had been found.

“I have been informed by SAPS that Funzi and Hluphi have been found in Benoni. They are being recovered now. We are also so grateful to learn that they are unharmed,” he said.

It is believed the Ngobeni and Gafane were travelling in a Toyota Hilux registration number LC-06TC GP when they were hijacked in Olievenhoutbosch in Centurion. Beaumont said the vehicle was still missing.

The hijacked vehicle that Ngobeni and Gafane were travelling in. (Photo: ActionSA)

“I ask that you hold Funzi and Hluphi, and their families, in your thoughts and pray for their safe return,” Beaumont appealed before they were found.

In a statement released before midnight, Beaumont confirmed that the two leaders were found at about 10.45pm after being hijacked at 7pm. The statement said the pair had been “held” by hijackers, “eventually being located in the Benoni area”.

Beaumont said they were unharmed but “undoubtedly shaken”.

He expressed his “profound gratitude to members of the SAPS who were incredibly responsive”.

He requested that Ngobeni and Gafane be given space to recover with their families before a more substantive briefing is provided on Wednesday. DM

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Originally from Papendorp and now residing in Doringbaai, chairperson of Coastal Links Western Cape Andre Cloete has been a fisher for over 20 years. He said that mining has left destruction in his community and all along the West Coast with no rehabilitation when mining companies finish their activity. He says it’s not just the physical environment but also the community that is suffering.

“One of the main things is that they [mining companies] leave the physical environment in a state and they don’t invest in the communities. They provide jobs only for a certain time, a few months, it’s all contractual and not permanent… People don’t thrive or prosper from these jobs while they [mining companies] on the other hand reap the benefits. You can see it.

“For the past five years, if we look at snoek, you don’t get as much as you normally do because of all these explorations happening now… Even with crayfish in Elands Bay, it’s crayfish season now and there’s no lobster during the day. We have to work at night because you don’t get anything during the day… Normally you get tons of fish and lobster in Elands Bay, now it’s only during the night because there’s less disturbance during the night,” Cloete said.

Cloete said there is no medical clinic in Papendorp, with community members having to travel to either Lutzville or Dorongbaai for treatment, yet mining companies were making billions from the minerals extracted from these communities.

This is the story of one of the contributors of a report, showing the impact of the historical reaping of minerals from poverty-stricken communities on the West Coast for billions over time.

“The Sand Worth Billions: How mining companies are reshaping South Africa’s West Coast” was authored by Carsten Pedersen from the Transnational Institute. The initial research and work of the report was conducted by Masifundise Development Trust, Cloete, as well as a few other Coastal Links leaders from the West Coast.

Pedersen said that minerals worth billions of dollars have been extracted for decades, yet extreme poverty and food insecurity have continued to pervade the region.

Pedersen said there is no fair distribution of the wealth of these mineral resources — it goes into the pockets of a few and a lot of it is sent outside the country.

The report finds that mineral extraction in South Africa and other parts of the world continues to produce major social and environmental destruction. The mining of mineral sands is no exception and the report shows that continued extensification of mining on the West Coast will add to the existing social, environmental and climate crisis.

In the report, Pedersen looked at Tronox Holdings which operates Namakwa Sands (Tronox Mineral Sands) in Saldanha and Matzikama, and KwaZulu-Natal Sands in Empangeni. Pedersen noted that these operations were less visible on the radar because they did more “clean business” and good PR work, so you don’t see the same injustice. But when he looked at the scale and size of the company, Pedersen this was the one they needed to pay attention to.

(Graphic: Transnational Institute)

What are the minerals in the sands and why are they so valuable?

“Every person living on the West Coast of South Africa knows that the sands there are the source of life. People walk the sands, launch their boats from beaches, catch fish from near a seabed made of sand, harvest plants (wild and cultivated) and raise domestic animals on the sandy stretches of coastal lands, and they have done so for centuries.

“They also know the sands have been a source of profit-making for the last century and a half and that their sands are again up for grabs. But why is this sand so interesting from a capitalist point of view? What does it contain and what is it used for?” Pedersen asked in his report.

South Africa’s minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, said in the Financial Times:“ South Africa is a significant supplier of critical minerals to the US. If we lose Agoa membership, it could have negative ramifications for the US. In the global fight against climate change, demand for critical minerals has become a significant factor. In 2021, the US imported nearly 100% of its chromium from South Africa, as well as over 25% of its manganese, titanium, and platinum. We also supply of 12 of the 50 mineral products identified by the US Geological Survey as critical for US interests.”

A large amount of the minerals Pandor refers to here come from the West Coast, but what exactly are the minerals being extracted from the sands?

Pedersen said the sand on the West Coast is rich in zircon, ilmenite and rutile, the so-called heavy minerals. Rutile is the most valuable as it is a mineral containing 95% titanium, used for aircraft, architectural products, industrial processes, sporting equipment and numerous other applications.

“The US is just one of the countries that need titanium for all these different industries. The Financial Times articles state that 25% of titanium comes from South Africa for US imports. In South Africa, 60% of Tronox’s titanium comes from the West Coast and 40% comes from the East Coast. Tronox is the biggest producer of titanium in South Africa, so it is the biggest player, ” Pedersen said.

“This is why the minister was putting forward that South Africa had to maintain good trade relations — and this was only titanium, there are many more [minerals] at play.”

Pedersen explained that heavy earthmoving equipment (excavators and trucks) were used to excavate and transport the sand from the mining sites to the primary and secondary concentration plants. This concentration process takes place at or near the mining site before the concentrate is transported by truck to a mineral separation plant where it is further separated into zircon, ilmenite and rutile.

Sand mining extraction northwest of Papendorp, near the Oilifants River. (Photo: Transnational Institute)

These three minerals (zircon, ilmenite and rutile) are then further processed and transported as industrial feedstock to Saldanha before being exported to overseas markets.

Pederson said zircon, a hard mineral that comes in various colours and is found as grains in sand,  is used either directly as a strong metallic element in ceramics or processed into zirconium chemicals and zirconium metal.

“South Africa’s share of world zircon production was 25% in 2020 and the vast majority (97%) of zirconium chemicals and metals produced worldwide originate in mineral sands.

“Tronox alone accounted for 60% of that production of which approximately 40% is derived from the West Coast sands and the remainder from KwaZulu-Natal and its Australian mines. Zircon is a strong and heat-resistant mineral that is applicable in a wide range of products. The majority is used in ceramics, whereas the zirconium metal and chemicals are used in the production of solar panels, TV screens, jet engines, hydrogen fuel cells, nuclear reactor cooling systems, vehicle components and more,” he said.

The Sand Worth Billions report analysis reveals that the sands are a source of minerals used to manufacture a wide range of end-products that most people all over the world depend on to meet their daily material needs, such as housing, food and transportation. The minerals feed into multi-billion dollar industries and the South African sands are too valuable for mining corporations to leave untouched.

Communities left high and dry

Pedersen continued, “Corporations will continue exploration and extraction of heavy mineral sands provided they can control the cost of production and that risks, such as political instability and rising energy costs, are considered manageable.

“This also means competition for the coastal lands and the sea, between local communities and mining companies, will continue and possibly lead to further tensions,” he said.

This report will be one ingredient for Masifundise Development Trust’s Fisher People’s Tribunal in August this year, to strengthen the voices of fisherfolk and the information will also be disseminated to affected communities.

Pedersen said, “We need to get a broader and better understanding of how the mining industry works… We have to look beyond the side of extraction because this is what most people working on mining issues look at. They are not looking at the value chain and what happens to the minerals, where they go, who profits from them, and where the profit is made. They also don’t look at who the people behind the mining companies are, the shareholders etc. These companies depend on investments and capital to expand their business and if they don’t get that capital then they won’t expand, that’s what history tells us.”

Pedersen said that sand mining was a billion-dollar industry and only a tiny proportion of the profits stayed in South Africa.

“They take the minerals, ship them offshore to some other Tronox subsidiaries that process these raw materials into other commodities like titanium powder which is then sold from other countries. This means the profit from this activity is not a profit made in South Africa,” he said.

A view of MSP Koekenaap (Tronox mine) in the Namakwa Sands of South Africa. (Photo: Transnational Institute)

Slow violence on the West Coast

A speak-out event was hosted by Masifundise in April 2024 where the report’s author Carsten Pedersen, Andre Cloete, and South African lead organiser of WoMin African Alliance Alexandria Hotz, detailed the report’s contents and “the slow violence of mining of the West Coast”.

During the discussion, Pedersen said ‘slow violence’ was not something that could be tracked over six months or one year. It represents the ongoing extraction of wealth and the simultaneous degradation of the environment that contributed to the erosion of livelihoods of people in coastal areas.

“When areas are grabbed by mining companies, these same areas and their resources are not available for the local population… for their livelihoods, food production, and the local economy.”

He said the resources along the coast should be utilised and developed in a way that benefits the people in the area.

“Once the territories are grabbed, they are no longer available and accessible for local communities. This closes down the opportunities for [local] economic development. There’s no sharing of all that wealth. In Lutzville, poverty has increased, crime rates have increased, and it’s not safe to walk in the streets. This is all part of the slow violence, and the result of the lack of sharing of wealth — which is, to a large extent, the responsibility of the mining companies and government,” Pederson said.

Hotz from WoMin added that these operations have an impact on the ecosystems, and ocean, then further impact the livelihoods of small-scale fishers already dependent on the ocean

In an interview with Daily Maverick, Hotz said there were multiple forms of this slow violence and there was a gendered experience to it. But she said the first experience was that people being separated from their land as indigenous people was a form of violence that unfortunately South Africans were all too familiar with.

“Because we have been in processes of dispossession, from colonialism, under apartheid, and now we are seeing new forms of land grabbing — which is violent, through mining applications and how the DMRP and other departments give away communities land without consultation or consent from communities.

“What that means is it creates a separation of communities from the land, from access to resources, the deepening of inequality and poverty in our communities and the reliance on grants because no work is coming to communities, the livelihoods have changed, they’re no longer able to fish or to grow food or rear cattle, etc,” she said.

Hotz said that women had a particular burden as they care for families mostly — from looking after fathers, sons and husbands who become ill working in mines, to holding households together and providing food, etc.

“There’s a whole cycle of violence. Last year in August in Concordia, a small town in the Northern Cape, women led a protest to defend communal land from being mined on and 29 community members were arrested,” she said.

There were also leaders of movements being assassinated for defending land, such as land activist and chairperson of the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC)  Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Rhadebe, who was murdered in 2016.

Tronox and respecting its host communities

When approached for a response to specific questions by Daily Maverick, Tronox referred to their 2022 Sustainability Report. Under the framework “Respecting Our Communities”, the report describes that Tronox works in respectful partnership with indigenous communities to protect their heritage and cultural values as they manage operations located on traditional lands in Australia and South Africa.

They also claim to seek out opportunities to contribute to the local economy by supporting indigenous-owned businesses, and to protect the native lands these communities call home.

(Graphic: Transnational Institute)

They say they engage in long-term relationships with traditional owner groups across all operations to determine the best ways to preserve and protect cultural heritage values and bring respectful economic development to their communities.

The report states, “Tronox operates alongside indigenous communities in South Africa, and is committed to the objectives set out in the National Development Plan, which aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. Through our Social and Labor Plans (SLPs), we have made valuable contributions towards supporting local Black-owned businesses in these communities,

“In 2022, Tronox invested R14-million (more than $817,000) in local business beneficiaries, which included 13 black-owned businesses. Seven of these were black women-owned businesses in industries like construction that align with our goals of championing greater gender diversity in traditionally male-dominated industries.”

In addition to economic development support, the report states that Tronox supports the host communities where they operate through Local Economic Development (LED) projects that include “building schools and homes, supporting STEM programmes, improving access to water and indoor plumbing, and even bringing the first veterinary clinic to one community”.

However, members of the communities along the West Coast, such as Cloete, and organisations supporting these communities, like Masifundise and WoMin, said that the ongoing extraction of minerals by these mining companies causes long-lasting social and environmental destruction.

Cloete said this was particularly the case when it comes to jobs mining companies provide, as they often only last for a few months with no sustainable economic upliftment for the locals in the communities. DM

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The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s opposition party, has governed the Western Cape province since 2009.

Ahead of national elections scheduled for 29 May 2024, party leader John Steenhuisen has admonished what he calls “mercenary parties” challenging the DA’s leadership in the Western Cape.

Rather than being “in opposition to the opposition”, Steenhuisen has argued, political parties such as the Patriotic Alliance, Good, and Rise Mzansi should focus their attention on other provinces. This is because the DA has a proven track record in the Western Cape, he and other party officials have claimed.

Is the party delivering on key issues such as unemployment, access to basic services and crime? In this report, we look into five claims the DA has made about its performance in the province.

Read more in Daily Maverick: 2024 elections hub

Claim: “Where we govern in the Western Cape, eight out of 10 people are employed …”

Verdict: Incorrect

The DA launched its election manifesto on 17 February. You can read our fact-check of that plan here.

In his keynote address at the launch in Pretoria, in the northern Gauteng province, Steenhuisen made several claims about the DA’s track record in the Western Cape.

On the topic of jobs, he said eight out of 10 people in the province were employed.

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) records unemployment in its quarterly labour force surveys (QLFS). The most recent survey available when the DA published its manifesto was for the third quarter of 2023, from July to September. During those months, the unemployment rate in the Western Cape was 20.2%. In other words, about two in 10 people were considered unemployed.

However, this doesn’t mean that 80% of people were “employed”. Stats SA considers a person to be unemployed if they did not have a job at the time of the survey but were actively seeking work and were available to work, or were set to start a new job at a definite date in the future.

An expanded definition of unemployment includes people who are unemployed and want to work, but have a reason for not seeking work — for example, a lack of available jobs in their area.

The labour force refers to all those employed and unemployed. By the expanded definition, 25.6% of the labour force in the Western Cape was unemployed in the third quarter of 2023. However, this still does not include all people in the Western Cape.

For the proportion of the working-age population (all people aged 15 to 64) that is employed, the absorption rate is a better indicator. This is what Dr Neva Makgetla, a senior economist at the Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies research institute, previously told Africa Check. This indicator includes people aged 15 to 64 who did paid work for at least an hour or had a job or business during the week of the survey.

In the third quarter of 2023, the absorption rate in the Western Cape was 54.7%, higher than any other province, but not as high as the DA claimed. Gauteng had the second highest absorption rate (45%) and Limpopo third (38.5%).

Data for the fourth quarter of 2023 was not available when the DA published its manifesto. However, the figures did not change much. The official unemployment rate was recorded at 20.3%, while the expanded rate was 25.6%. The absorption rate was 55.0%.

Claim: “This province is responsible for 78.9% of all jobs in our country in the last five years.”

Verdict: Misleading

At the launch of the DA’s manifesto in the Western Cape, Premier Alan Winde claimed that the province was responsible for creating 78.9% of all jobs in South Africa over the past five years.

A reader asked us to look into the claim.

Kylie Hatton, special adviser to the premier, told Africa Check that the source of the claim was Stats SA’s QLFS, “which shows that 78.9% of net jobs were created in Western Cape” since the fourth quarter of 2019.

However, the QLFS does not use the term “net jobs” and Stats SA previously told Africa Check that it does not “have an official definition for this”.

The latest edition of the QLFS covers the fourth quarter of 2023 (the months of October to December). Winde spoke about “the last five years”, which should have started with the fourth quarter of 2018, but Winde used figures from the fourth quarter of 2019 instead.

The increase in employment in the Western Cape between the fourth quarter of 2019 and 2023 was around 239,000 people. Over the same period, employment in South Africa as a whole increased by around 303,000 people. In percentage terms, the Western Cape accounts for about 78.9% of this total. But statisticians don’t use this method to compare changes in employment, and for very good reasons.

‘Not totally wrong but misleading’

Dr Ihsaan Bassier, a researcher at the South African Labour and Development Research Unit and the London School of Economics, told Africa Check that the claim was “not totally wrong, but I would classify it as misleading”.

The first issue becomes apparent when using data from 2018, five years before 2023, not from 2019 onwards. Employment increases in the Western Cape over this period were 236,000 and for South Africa, 194,000.

By the DA’s calculations, this would mean that the Western Cape produced 121.5% of the net jobs in that time. But KwaZulu-Natal province also provided more than 100% “of all jobs” during this period.

“Some provinces increased employment, some provinces decreased employment, and so a particular province can in fact ‘over explain’ national net job creation, as in this case, with over 100%,” Bassier said.

Employment also experienced major shock in 2020 as a result of the Covid pandemic. “In historical terms, the period since 2020 has been anomalous,” Bassier said. The net number of jobs created over the past five years finally turned positive in 2023 but was still very small.

Bassier calculated that for the period 2021 to 2023, which would be less affected by the pandemic, Gauteng had the highest percentage of “net national employment growth” at 23.4%, followed by the Western Cape at 22.7%.

Stats SA does not use the measure

Desiree Manamela, chief director for labour statistics at Stats SA told Africa Check that the data agency “does not use this measure used by the DA to assume that the Western Cape was responsible for 78.9% of all jobs in the country in the last five years and does not use the measure ‘% of net jobs’.”

So what can other measures tell us about the Western Cape’s employment statistics?

Between the fourth quarters of 2018 and 2023, the Western Cape did see the largest increase in employment of any province, with just over 236,000 more people employed in 2023 than in 2018. KwaZulu-Natal was a close second, with an increase of just over 208,000 people. Four provinces (Eastern Cape, Free State, North West and Gauteng) saw a decline in employment over that period.

Over the four years used by Winde, five provinces experienced a decrease in employment, with the Western Cape again recording the largest increase at 239,000 people. KwaZulu-Natal was again second with 192,000. There are, however, other ways of looking at the contribution to employment.

For example, Manamela highlighted how each province’s employment figures had changed as a percentage of people already employed in the province. This makes comparisons between provinces more intuitive, as, for example, a province that doubled its employment figures would show an employment increase of 100%, whether that meant an increase from 100 people to 200 or from 1 million to 2 million people. This means that large provinces do not dominate employment figures simply by having large populations.

From the fourth quarter of 2019 to 2023, employment in the Western Cape increased by 9.5% of its initial value. This was the highest increase of any province, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 7.2% and Limpopo at 7%.

So the Western Cape is doing well in terms of employment, but Winde used a misleading measure to communicate this.

Claim: “Where we govern, in places like Cape Town … [we provide] the cleanest drinking water …”

Verdict: Incorrect

During the manifesto launch, Steenhuisen narrowed in on the City of Cape Town, claiming that the DA provided the cleanest drinking water there.

The 2022 general household survey (GHS), the latest available, shows that 99.3% of households in the Western Cape had access to piped or tap water. The quality of this water is another matter.

South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) defines water quality in terms of its “microbiological, physical, and chemical properties”.

This information is made publicly available on the National Integrated Water Information System (Niwis), an interactive dashboard maintained by the department. The latest Niwis results at the time of publishing are for samples tested between 1 March 2023 and 1 February 2024.

Prof Craig Sheridan is the director of the Centre in Water Research and Development at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He told Africa Check that a water quality index helped determine how good the water was in a given place because it considered the chemical and microbiological aspects of the water. “The best score on a [water quality index] would be the best water,” Sheridan said.

The Niwis measures the quality of drinking water according to six chemical and microbiological categories and provides a rating of bad, poor, good or excellent.

Neil Griffin, a research officer at Rhodes University’s Institute for Water Research in Makhanda, told Africa Check that the index was based on the South African National Standard Drinking Water Specification (Sans 241). It sets out the minimum standards for water that is safe to consume. While there were other standards, Griffin said, Sans 241 was “probably the best”.

The results of the Niwis dashboard showed that Cape Town’s water was rated as excellent in four categories, poor in one and bad in another. Water in the City of Tshwane in Gauteng, which is also governed by the DA, was rated as good in two categories, poor in two others and bad in the remaining two.

On the other hand, water in the ANC-run City of Johannesburg was rated as excellent in five categories and bad in one. Water in the eThekwini municipality, also led by the ANC, was rated excellent in four categories, good in one and bad in another.

Based on the samples tested, the City of Cape Town therefore does not have the cleanest drinking water.

Asked about Cape Town’s poor result for the “chemical: disinfectant” category, Griffin said this indicated that the city’s water had higher residual chlorine levels than Johannesburg between 1 March 2023 and 1 February 2024.

Claim: “… and the best sanitation services in the entire country.”

Verdict: Unproven

South Africa’s national treasury defines basic sanitation services as providing households with easily accessible and sustainable facilities. These are often referred to as “improved sanitation” — flush toilets connected to a public sewerage system or a septic tank, or a pit toilet with ventilation pipes (also known as a VIP toilet).

Outdated facilities that do not fall into this category include pit toilets, chemical toilets (which collect human waste in a tank and use chemicals to minimise odour) and pit latrines.

According to the 2022 GHS, the Western Cape had the highest number of households using improved sanitation, at 95.7%. This was followed by Gauteng (87.3%) and the Free State (78.7%). The Western Cape also had the lowest number of households using pit toilets (0.2%), followed by Gauteng (6%).

However, the numbers look different at the local government level — particularly in metropolitan municipalities, known as metros.

(Data source: Stats SA, 2022)

Using the total number of sanitation facilities per metro from Stats SA’s 2022 census, the City of Johannesburg (94.9%) had the highest number of individuals that made use of improved sanitation, followed by Nelson Mandela Bay (93.7%) and the City of Cape Town (93.5%).

However, in terms of households, the 2022 general household survey showed that the ANC-governed Buffalo City (97.8%) had the highest number of improved sanitation facilities out of all the metros. The DA-governed Tshwane ranked second to last in terms of access to improved sanitation.

(Source: Stats SA, 2022 general household survey)

The difference in these figures is due to the distinction between a census and a survey. While the census aims to collect data from every person in South Africa, a survey collects data from a sample of the population.

Performance should reflect changes over time

Given the different data sets available, we asked Mike Muller, former director-general of South Africa’s water affairs department and adjunct professor at Wits University’s Graduate School of Governance, to weigh in.

“Without seeing the exact statements made, it’s difficult to respond,” he said. “Improved sanitation” was a very wide definition and the type and status of sanitation adopted by a household depended on the type of housing and settlement as well as household incomes.

In addition, Muller said, “‘performance’ cannot be measured by a single data point but must reflect changes made over a given period”. He said the 2022 GHS provided some useful insights into the performance of the different provinces over the past two decades.

It showed that at the national level, access to improved sanitation rose from 61.7% in 2002 to 83.2% in 2022.

“The best ‘performing’ province was the Eastern Cape where access rose from 33.4% to 90%. Limpopo also improved significantly, from 26.9% to 63.1%,” Muller said.

While most urban provinces showed limited progress, they started from a high coverage base and experienced high levels of in-migration, Muller added.

For example, access to improved sanitation in the Western Cape increased from 92.2% in 2002 to 95.9% in 2022. In Gauteng, the figures were 88.9% and 90.5%.

According to Muller, this meant that “poor rural provinces” had seen the most improvement.

“The two developed urban provinces started with high levels of coverage which improved slightly in percentage terms over the two decades. However, to compare their ‘performance’ it would be necessary to consider the number of households served since areas with high in-migration or more households to serve have to do more simply to stay in the same place.”

What looks like a slow rate of increase in percentage terms may be masking a significant rate of increase in terms of the number of households with appropriate access.

We have therefore rated this claim unproven. That is, publicly available evidence neither proves nor disproves the claim.

Claim: “The only province in South Africa where the murder rate is plateauing or coming down is in [the Western Cape].”

Verdict: Incorrect

Launching the DA’s manifesto in the Western Cape, Premier Alan Winde claimed that his province was the only one to see a drop or stagnation in the murder rate.

The Western Cape has long been associated with high murder rates. In April 2024, news media reported that 94 people had been murdered over just three days.

The province’s murders are largely concentrated in townships on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town and in areas characterised by economic exclusion, lack of access to basic services and gang activity.

Historically, the high murder rates in the Western Cape have been attributed to a number of factors, including the proliferation of gangs, the related issue of illegal firearms, and a weakened criminal justice system.

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria uses police data to calculate annual murder rates for South Africa. These take the total population into account by looking at the number of murders in a given time and place per 100,000 people. At 56, the rate in the Western Cape was higher than the national average of 45 in 2022/23.

(Source: Policy brief: Murder trends in South Africa’s deadliest provinces)

Winde told Africa Check that his claim was based on a policy brief published by the ISS. It analysed trends in murder rates at a provincial level and found the Western Cape’s murder rate had fallen by 1.4 in the five years between 2017/18 and 2022/23.

Zoom out, and the picture is less hopeful. The policy brief also compares current murder rates with those of 2011/12. Here the Western Cape increased from 43 in 2011/12 to 56 in 2022/23. The national rate also increased from 31 to 45 over the same period.

Recent murder declines and the Leap initiative

As the policy brief points out, the increase in the Western Cape was between 2011/12 and 2017/18.

In recent years the province has introduced initiatives aimed at curbing the crime epidemic, such as the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap). Created in 2020, Leap focused law enforcement resources in murder hotspots. Murder rates started to decline around this time.

Africa Check spoke to David Bruce, security researcher and author of the policy brief, to learn more. He said that statistics since 2019 did suggest that initiatives like Leap might have had “a positive impact” on murder rates in the province.

Other researchers have written about the likely link between Leap and reductions in the murder rate. In a 2022 article, Dr Jean Redpath, senior researcher at the Dullah Omar Institute at the University of the Western Cape, wrote: “The Leap intervention, involving multilevel government co-operation, provides hope that it may be possible to make a dent in SA’s crime problem.”

Bruce added that the Western Cape did not show the same pattern of increasing murder rates over this period as seen in other provinces known to have high murder rates.

For example, while the murder rate decreased slightly in the Western Cape, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have all seen significant increases in the last five years.

(Source: Policy brief: Murder trends in South Africa’s deadliest provinces)

The ‘only’ province to see a decrease?

Winde claimed that the Western Cape was the only province in South Africa to see a decrease or plateau in murder rates. But when comparing rates between 2011/12 and 2022/23 data, the Free State observed a slight decline of 2% and the Northern Cape a decline of 4%. While the decline in the Northern Cape was concentrated between 2011/12 and 2017/18, the decline in the Free State took place between 2017/18 and 2022/23. Limpopo’s murder rate declined by 0.4% between 2017/18 and 2022/23.

This means the Western Cape is not the only province to see a plateau or a decrease.

Latest data a ‘curve ball’

More recent statistics further challenge Winde’s claim. Bruce told Africa Check that the last three quarterly crime reports from the South African Police Service (SAPS) show the province’s murder rate has increased slightly, “by about 5%”.

From April to December 2023, SAPS recorded 3,404 murders (adding quarters one, two and three). In the same period of the previous year, there were 3,242 murders.

As we have written before, experts prefer to use the more finalised annual data, when available, rather than quarterly reports. But for murder, according to Bruce, the difference in these numbers is “usually less than 1%”.

The data from the last three quarterly reports presents a “curve ball”, Bruce said. While the Western Cape’s murder rate had been in decline, this is no longer the case.

With fourth-quarter results due to be released in May 2024, it remains to be seen whether the province has started to buck the trend again. DM

This report is produced as part of the work of a South African election coalition. In the run-up to the 2024 national elections, the coalition aims to ensure that the claims made by those in charge of state resources and delivering essential services are factually accurate. As voters head to the polls, it is increasingly important that they are able to make informed decisions.

First published by Africa Check.

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The founder of the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party, Jabulani Khumalo, has asked the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to remove former president Jacob Zuma as the face of the party and from its list of parliamentary candidates. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Elections 2024 – All your questions answered

In a letter dated 5 May, Khumalo requested that the IEC urgently remove Zuma’s name as the “face” of the MK party, and that he also be “immediately removed” as the president of the party. 

“He [Zuma] occupies both positions through fraudulent and illegal manoeuvres,” Khumalo wrote. 

He has also written to Zuma, in a letter also dated 5 May, telling him he has been placed on “precautionary suspension” for allegedly committing “several acts of misconduct in relation to the activities” of the MK party. 

“These have brought the party into disrepute, and caused confusion within the broader public and the membership of the MKP. Specifically, you have purported to suspend me as the president of the party without following the procedures prescribed by the constitution of the party,” Khumalo wrote. 

He added that Zuma had been placed on precautionary suspension, pending disciplinary proceedings being brought against him in line with the constitution of the MK party. 

Khumalo, who registered the MK party with the IEC in September 2023, was expelled from the party on 26 April, along with four other party leaders. The purge exposed the instability in the fledgling party, at a time when polls showed its support was growing – with Ipsos predicting MK could receive 8.4% of the vote on 29 May. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: 2024 elections

In a statement announcing the leaders’ expulsion, MK said that a National Leadership Core meeting had revealed that the party had been infiltrated by external forces who sought to “destabilise” it.

The party kept mum on the reasons for the purge, but claimed it was in the interest of “patriotic South Africans that want to see change”.  

Former president Jacob Zuma, flanked by Jabulani Khumalo, speaks about his political future at a press conference in Orlando East, Soweto, on 16 December 2023. (Photo: Reuters /Shiraaz Mohamed)

In a statement issued just before 1pm on Tuesday, the IEC confirmed receipt of Khumalo’s letter. However, it said Zuma was the registered leader of the MK party since 10 April.

“The commission reiterates its stance that it does not involve itself in internal affairs of political parties. Additionally, the commission only acts on instruction of the registered leader of the party. In the present case, Mr Jacob Zuma is the registered leader of MK Party. This has been so since 10 April 2024,” it said.

Following the leaders’ expulsion, the Sunday Times reported on allegations that Khumalo had held secret meetings with the ANC behind Zuma’s back, and that he had been raising funds for the party, but those funds never reached its coffers.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Expulsions from MK party point to deep instability and mistrust

Khumalo was second on the party’s candidate list for the National Assembly, behind Zuma who was first on the list. 

The move by Khumalo comes days before the Constitutional Court is set to hear, on 10 May 2024, an appeal by the IEC against the Electoral Court’s decision to allow Zuma to stand as a candidate for the MK party. The IEC had initially barred Zuma from appearing on the ballot – considering he was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court for refusing to appear before the State Capture Commission in 2021 – but the Electoral Court reversed this, ruling he could stand for office.

Read more in Daily Maverick: The unstoppable impunities of being Jacob Zuma — with a lot of help from the ANC

On 3 May, Zuma submitted notice that he intends to file a counter-application to the IEC case, requesting the recusal of six Constitutional Court judges who were involved in his contempt of court case. 

The IEC has, in court papers filed on Monday, stated there is “substantial risk of a disputed electoral outcome” in the elections if Zuma is allowed to stand, News24 reported.  

‘Zuma brought MK into disrepute’

In his letter to the IEC, Khumalo said he was responsible for the registration of the MK party, while Zuma merely proposed the party’s name and helped to raise funds for its registration.  

“At all times, it was always understood that Mr Zuma is not a member of MKP, but would assist it in the campaign. In fact, when he announced his decision to vote and campaign for MKP on 16 December 2023, he made it clear he would remain a member of the ANC,” Khumalo said. 

He said Zuma is not a member of the MK party’s executive committee. 

On 23 April, Khumalo said he was called to a meeting with individuals who were not on the party’s national executive committee but were active in the MK party. According to Khumalo, at the meeting, Zuma announced that Khumalo had been removed as president of the party, and that he would henceforth be the president. 

“During that meeting a fraudulent letter was prepared for transmission to the Electoral Commission announcing that I would no longer be on the list of candidates and that Mr Zuma would be the face and president of MKP.

“I sent a letter to the Electoral Commission, in which I confirmed that Mr Zuma would be the face of the party. At no stage did I confirm that Mr Zuma would be the president of the party,” Khumalo wrote in the letter. 

According to Khumalo, Zuma’s conduct has brought the party into “disrepute”. Zuma had “acted contrary to the terms of the constitution of the party”, by purporting to remove Khumalo as party leader without following any procedures.

Khumalo also claimed that it had been “widely discussed” within the MK party that after the elections “certain individuals, including an active member and leader of an opposition party” would take over as the party’s president. 

Khumalo’s letter to the IEC comes amid allegations of signature forgery by the MK party, revealed by City Press last week. Police have said they are investigating the claims that the party forged thousands of signatures to register for the elections.  

Daily Maverick contacted Khumalo for comment, but he declined to speak to the media, saying he was not taking any interviews for now. 

Daily Maverick asked MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication. DM

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‘I will wait here until my son comes out,” said Deon Safers, the father of Delvin Safers, one of the dozens of workers missing in the rubble of a building that collapsed in George on Monday. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Six dead and 48 missing in devastating George building collapse

“I’m not going home, I’m going nowhere. I don’t even want to eat. I want my boy out of there and I must pray for him and I must hope he will get out of there,” Safers said on Tuesday as he sat outside the George Civic Centre, opposite the remains of the building.  

Deon Safers’ 29-year-old son, Delvin, was working as an electrician at 75 Victoria Street, George, when the building collapsed. Safers had been waiting for more than 24 hours for his son’s rescue. (Photo: Velani Ludidi)

Evening was falling on the second day of rescue efforts for those trapped in the rubble. All around Safers, members of the families of those missing in the rubble waited, wrapped in donated blankets. Many had been there since the early hours of the morning.

Delvin Safers (29) had been working as an electrician at the construction site when the building collapsed.  

“Since yesterday [Monday], from 5.30pm, we communicated with him because he had his cellphone with him. He communicated every hour, every second hour with us to save his battery. Now and then he switched his phone off,” his father said.

“Last night at about 2.15am, his phone went to 10% and he switched his phone off, and this morning at 5.30am he sent a message to his cousin. He said he’s okay, he’s positive but he’s tired and his back is sore and his legs are sore.”

The last message Delvin Safers sent was received by his girlfriend at 3.05pm on Tuesday. He told her he was in a lot of pain.

Recovery efforts will continue throughout the night in George following the collapse of a building that was under construction on Monday. 47 people are still unaccounted for pic.twitter.com/NaQtYOr5yp

— Veve (@LudidiVelani) May 7, 2024

“But we as his family [and] I as his father are very positive. My son will get out there alive. We pray with him and I know he prays with us there inside. I believe he’s a strong boy and I believe he’s a hero because of the fight from yesterday. He can’t use his one arm where he is, he can’t use his legs but he is strong mentally. So, I salute my boy there where he is and I believe he will get out of that rubble,” Safers said.

Rescue personnel clear debris to rescue trapped workers at the collapsed building on Victoria Street in George. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

“It doesn’t matter when he gets out there — I will wait here until my son comes out. And I will thank each and every member here in disaster management for every effort they put in to rescue my son and all his colleagues.”

‘Very devastated’

Earlier on Tuesday, Daily Maverick spoke with Bright Kayuni, who was at the George Civic Centre seeking news of his nephew’s wife, Tiwonge Mhango. She had only started working at the building site the previous Thursday, as a cleaner. She and two friends of Kayuni’s family who were also working there have not been heard from since the collapse.

“At the moment, we are very devastated with the news because we can’t think straight. My nephew is also trying to help there on the side, just trying to find his wife… We don’t know what to do,” Kayuni said.

“[My nephew is] trying to take away the rubble and call the name of his wife so that he can be able to locate her… He has been there since last night.”

Kayuni said it has been challenging to get information about who had been rescued and where they could be found. The family visited the local hospital but were told that they needed to approach the municipality for updates.

Rescue personnel work to clear debris and rescue trapped workers at the collapsed building on Victoria Street in George. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

“We came to the municipality. They also said they can’t give us the full report at the moment because they are just busy rescuing the people and they are also busy trying to treat the people that have been rescued. That’s the only information that we got,” he said.

“We need to know where our family [members] are… We need their names. If they’re in the hospitals … show us so that we can identify them. But it has been very difficult for us.”

48 people still missing

More than 200 emergency services personnel were continuing rescue efforts at the site as of 7.40pm on Tuesday as the operation neared the 30-hour mark. Seven of the 39 people removed from the rubble were dead and 48 were still missing.

Gift of the Givers spokesperson Mario Ferreira told Daily Maverick that the rescue efforts would not be affected by darkness. “We will be on-site as long as it takes. At this stage, I think the three-day time period is optimistic, especially if you look at the wreckage. But we’re aiming for the three days,” Ferreira said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Western Cape’s chief director of disaster management services, Colin Deiner, said that the international standard for the length of this type of rescue effort was three days.

Gift of the Givers members have been providing support for family members of those caught in the collapse. 

“We felt there was a lack of interaction with the families so we personally went and spoke to the families over there, just to get them to keep their hopes up. We’ve supplied them with some sanitary parcels, some toiletries, some blankets,” Ferreira said.

Company named

The executive mayor of George, Leon van Wyk, named the developer of the collapsed five-storey building as the Neo Trend Group. However, on the company’s website, it is named Neo Victoria and Neo Trend Group is listed as part of the marketing team. 

A drone view of the scene of a building collapse where several construction workers are thought to be trapped in George. Photo: Reuters / Shafiek Tassiem

Previously, Daily Maverick reported that the mayor said he was unaware of the developers, engineers and contractors responsible for the site, even though his municipality had approved their plans.

“The plans [for the building] were submitted on 22 December 2022 … and were approved by the municipality on 6 July 2023,” Van Wyk said. He added that the developer had hired a professional team, which included contractors, surveyors and engineers. 

“The municipality would then come back when the building is completed and issue an occupancy certificate for the building to be occupied.” 

Theuns Kruger, the director of Liatel Developments, the contracted builder of the collapsed building, told the George Herald that they were committed to cooperating with authorities to determine the cause of the disaster.

“We are coordinating closely with emergency responders and authorities to provide support and resources for the rescue operations. We are fully committed to cooperating with the authorities to determine the cause of this incident. We will ensure that a thorough investigation is conducted to understand what led to the collapse.

“We at Liatel are deeply saddened by the events that have unfolded in George. Our hearts go out to all those impacted by this tragedy, and we extend our sincerest sympathy to the victims and their families.” DM

This  article was updated on Wednesday at 07.55am.

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‘The… multi-model rainfall forecast indicates mostly below-normal rainfall over most of the country during May-Jun-Jul (MJJ), Jun-Jul-Aug and Jul-Aug-Sep, except for some parts over KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga for MJJ where above-normal rainfall is expected,” says the latest Climate Watch, which looks five months ahead. 

“Minimum and maximum temperatures are expected to be mostly above-normal countrywide for the forecast period,” it adds.

Winter is the dry season on the Highveld and much of the interior of the country, but it looks to be both drier and warmer than usual as the legacy of the drought unleashed by El Niño lingers.

“The anticipated below-normal rainfall coupled with above-normal temperatures are likely to increase water losses and reduce water storage levels through evapotranspiration and drought, among other factors, particularly in parts of the North West, Free State and Limpopo where a number of settlements are experiencing ongoing drought,” the Climate Watch says.

The SA Weather Service’s observations still see a fading El Niño in play, while other international forecasters such as the Australian Bureau of Meteorology say it is now over and that what is known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation is currently in neutral territory.

This is a bit academic for South Africans as El Niño retracts its claws in this region at this time of the year anyway.

“El Niño does not have an effect on our weather this time of the year, so whether or not it is dying or still going is irrelevant,” Willem Landman, a professor of meteorology at the University of Pretoria, told Daily Maverick. 

More importantly, Landman’s forecast sees La Niña emerging towards springtime in these parts.

This is in line with most international forecasts, some of which see La Niña lifting off by July. 

El Niño, triggered by a warming of surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific, generally brings drought to southern Africa. The last one devastated the region’s staple maize harvest this year, among other impacts. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: South Africa’s neighbours bear the brunt of dry weather pattern

But some sectors, such as citrus, have escaped relatively unscathed, thanks in part to good moisture levels last spring which were a legacy of the previous prolonged La Niña event.

Read more in Daily Maverick: South African citrus farmers have reason to be upbeat after weathering El Niño 

La Niña arises when surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific cool, and its return will be welcome – provided the possible downpours don’t get too intense. 

Too much rain makes no grain and both weather patterns are becoming more extreme because of human-caused climate change.

The potential for too much rain is a concern in the early winter season in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga, which are expected to be unseasonably wet.

“There is an increased risk of waterlogging in areas receiving excessive rainfall, which can cause crop damage,” the Climate Watch warns.

Meanwhile, below-normal rainfall during the wet winter season in the southwestern parts of South Africa also poses challenges for agriculture as well as wider water supplies. 

On a brighter note, the milder winter should help Eskom to keep the lights on during the season of peak household demand and means South Africans won’t have to bundle up so much. 

The weather is often a double-edged sword, but at least El Niño has now been blunted. DM

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It’s been an incredible journey with many anxious moments, but they are home – and they are safe.

That is the heartwarming news from Leanne Dryburgh and her team of wild horse volunteers. They have managed to return a group of free-roaming horses from an area near Hermanus to their original wetland home near the Bot River estuary in the Western Cape and have been keeping a watch over them since their arrival.

A few weeks ago, Daily Maverick highlighted the threats faced by this particular group of wild horses and the urgent need to move them. Since then the interest in their well-being has gone viral.

“We knew that it was not going to be an easy operation and that the stress factor was going to be an issue when it came to loading the horses,” Dryburgh explained. “But we have a very experienced team. For something like this you need patience, compassion, skill, an understanding of the herds and their dynamics and, above all, cool heads!”

On 18 February at 7am the Fisherhaven herd was released back to its original home and back to safety.

“It took our very small team (with our ever-devoted husbands) the best part of a night and a day… to move them. After many months of planning, it was amazingly seamless. The horses arrived calmly and without any injuries. It was almost as if they knew we were helping them.”

Their destination was a stretch of deserted privately owned land in the Bot River area as well as part of the Rooisand Nature Reserve belonging to CapeNature.

“As in any grouping of wild animals there will be intermingling between the Fisherhaven and Rooisand herds,” said Dryburgh. Young stallions aged about four will be kicked out of one herd and go to another in search of fillies and mares, and chase away the older stallions. We keep a record of these movements and the new progeny, which is an important part of the monitoring process, but always from a distance.”

The Fisherhaven wild horses were a breakaway group from the original Rooisand herd of wild horses that have roamed freely in a protected area on the Bot River estuary for more than a century.

With the recent acceleration of development in the Hermanus area, the small group needed to be returned to its Rooisand family of 28 horses as quickly and safely as possible.

It took the small team the best part of a night and a day to move the herd, said Leanne Dryburgh. (Photo: Leanne Dryburgh)

Said Dryburgh: “They are currently roaming right where we hoped they would, away from humans so they can settle into the environment and hopefully start a new chapter in their lives. The mission of our team has never wavered – to keep these magnificent creatures free-roaming and at a respectful distance from humans. They have proved that they survive incredibly well on their own – in their vlei. We need to keep it that way. They are a national treasure.”

Through the years there have been many committed volunteers who have kept eyes on the herds and reported anything untoward. This, says Dryburgh, has been vital in preserving and protecting their habitat, and helping to ensure that they are kept free-roaming for future generations.

“There is also a group of ‘patrollers’. These are the ‘feet on the ground’ who respond at any time of the day or night. Every single person who reports watches from a distance, emphasising the importance of noninterference, which plays an important role in their survival.”

It won’t be an easy task meeting all the challenges that come with protecting the wild horses, she says.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Free-roaming wild horses in severe danger as habitat shrinks, traffic accidents rise

“We need to fix fences, put in a cattle grid and put up more signage to educate people, but we remain positive that we will achieve all our goals. The fences and cattle grid will help ensure their safety, but the education is the most important. People really need to admire from a distance.”

Although the proceeds from Dryburgh’s annual calendar sales raise enough money for basic signs and medicines from the vets (the vets donate their time and never hesitate to come when necessary), this move, she admits, was a mammoth undertaking that came at great expense. The move cost R65,000, and Dryburgh managed to raise R66,000.

It takes 70 days for animals to be rewilded. It is more than 70 days since Daily Maverick first highlighted the plight of the Fisherhaven horses. “They haven’t tried to move back,” she says. “I think we can safely say their wild heritage has been restored.”

Photo: Leanne Dryburgh

Education

Educating is the most important part of their mission.

• Look – don’t touch. If they approach you out of curiosity, clap your hands and walk away;
• Keep a distance of at least 50m. Animals have a comfort circle. When you enter their space, the dynamics change and they no longer behave naturally;
• Do not feed them. They do not need any other food than what they graze on naturally; and
• Let them roam free! Help us to help them.

The most disturbing thing Dryburgh has recently seen, and is seeing more and more of, is people trying to get close to the wild horses. There are two huge problems with this, she says. First, if the herd is being tamed, it becomes more vulnerable. Second, the herd dynamics can change in a heartbeat, and every animal in that herd reacts to the lead stallion or lead mare. If people are in the way, say sitting on the ground, it could make them vulnerable.

Ideas

• Inclusive buy-in from organisations like the Southern African Historical Society;
• More signs and volunteers to educate and raise importance on the ground; and
• Raised platforms, similar to those in Kirstenbosch, where people can view the horses without interfering with them.

About Dryburgh

As a young girl she says she spent hours in her dad’s darkroom, watching the images magically appearing and dreaming of becoming a photographer.

“I spent most of my youth swooning over Life and National Geographic magazines. In 1989 my dream became a reality when I was accepted to study a three-year diploma in photography in Durban… My camera is an extension of my core, my being.”

Dryburgh began her career as a wildlife photographer in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, and sold those images to help support and create awareness for the Endangered Wildlife Trust.

She currently lives with her photographer husband Peter Hassall in a small wooden home under an old milkwood tree on the Bot River estuary in the Western Cape. 

“I became aware of the wild horses when I moved to the Overberg in 2013, and in 2016, on a long walk near our home, we stumbled across a lone injured stallion. I got hold of the ‘horse watchers’ and learnt that it was Brassy, who had separated himself from the herd to heal after challenging another stallion. I joined the horse watch group, and have been involved ever since.”

Dryburgh is in the process of producing a book on the Rooisand wild horses. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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