Steve Smit, a beloved member of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA) also affectionately known as KwaZulu-Natal’s famous “Monkey Man,” passed away on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, after a brave, well-fought battle with cancer.
His passing has left the global conservation, and KwaZulu Natal communities deeply heartbroken, we collectively mourn a legendary champion for wildlife. Over a span of thirty years, he dedicated his entire life to the protection, rescue, and rehabilitation of urban wildlife, leaving behind an unforgettable legacy as a fierce voice for the voiceless.
Conceptualized in 2017, WAPFSA took shape as a collaborative network in 2018 before gaining full formalization in 2019. However, founding members Michele Pickover, Executive Director of the EMS Foundation, and Steve Smit shared a close professional alliance that extends all the way back to 2003.
Michele Pickover interviewed Steve Smit in 2003 as part of her research report titled: The Environmental Movement in South Africa – An Analysis of Animal Based Issues, Campaigns and Organisations. On page 365 of her report she stated that there were no animal rights organisations in South Africa. Five years later, on the 8 March 2008, Animal Rights Africa (ARA) was officially launched marking an unprecedented milestone in African animal rights advocacy. The two key figures and co-founders of Animal Rights Africa were of course, Steve Smit and Michele Pickover.
Steve Smit and Carol Booth founded the Monkey Helpline in 1995. A dedicated non-profit organisation responding to thousands of rescue call-outs annually across KwaZulu-Natal. The EMS Foundation has played a pivotal role in supporting this successful wildlife rescue and rehabilitation operation by providing substantial financial backing to the Monkey Helpline Rehabilitation and Sanctuary Centre to ensure the long-term survival of rescued Vervet monkeys in South Africa.
Steve Smit was also an important member of the WAPFSA Primate Working Group. This group focuses on the welfare, ethical management, and protection of indigenous primates in South Africa including amongst other, the chacma baboon. Over the past few years Steve Smit has been particularly outspoken against the current chacma baboon management policies adopted on the Cape Peninsula and the Overstrand regions of the Western Cape.
WAPFSA honours the incredible life and profound legacy of our dear friend and colleague Steve Smit. Steve was a legendary, tireless champion, a fierce voice for the voiceless, and a true pillar of ethical conservation in South Africa. While we deeply mourn this monumental loss, his fierce spirit, unwavering dedication, and decades of compassionate activism will forever guide our collective mission to protect the wild. Rest in peace, Steve; your vital work continues through the endless lives you saved and the network you helped build.
In September 2025, South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George paused the CITES export quotas for elephants, rhinos and leopards due to ongoing legal challenges, sparking industry outrage over potential losses in revenue.
Dr Dion George was removed from his position in November 2025. Former Democratic Alliance National Spokesperson Mr Willie Aucamp was appointed as the new Minister of the Environment recommended by Democratic Alliance leader Mr John Steenhuisen despite concerns about a possible conflict of interest especially with regard to trophy hunting and game breeding.
It is incumbent on Minister Willie Aucamp to provide substantive and motivating reasons to permit the trophy hunting and export of TOPS listed species.
In the absence of such reasons, the decision to reinstate quotas for these species is susceptible to legal challenge on the grounds that it fails to give effect to the precautionary principle enshrined in section 2 of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA), and is inconsistent with South Africa’s obligations under CITES to ensure that exports are not detrimental to the survival of the species.
The DFFE Gazetted Notice dated 6th February 2026 in our opinion, fails to include robust information on, among other things:
(a) how the trophy hunting of the three species fulfils the duty to protectthe environment in terms of Section 24 of the Constitution, read with section 2 of NEMA and section 57 of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 (NEMBA);
(b) the rationale for selecting these three species for trophy hunting;
(c) how the quota quantities are determined and
(d) the distribution across the provinces;
(e) the economic benefits of trophy hunting in relation to the three species concerned, and precisely how the local communities will be benefitting;
(f) the welfare implications of the animal being hunted.
The inclusion of a definition of “well-being” in the NEMBA through the 2022 amendments has created a significant legal and ethical conflict with the trophy hunting industry in South Africa. The 2022 amendments to NEMBA define well-being as the holistic circumstances (physical, physiological, and mental health) that allow an animal to thrive.
WAPFSA argues that killing an animal for sport, often targeting prime, healthy, or endangered individuals, is inherently incompatible with the “holistic well-being” of that animal Where the DFFE authorised trophy hunting of TOPS-listed species, it must demonstrate how such authorisation is consistent with the well-being objectives embedded in NEMBA. No such justification has been provided in the GN of 6 February 2026.
WAPFSA members respectively request that its comments receive substantive consideration. We request that once the DFFE has reviewed all comments received, that a comments and responses table be made publicly available, evidencing the manner in which all Stakeholders’ comments were evaluated and analysed by the DFFE.
Green Group Simons Town interventions have demonstrated that behaviourally informed and holistic, non-aversive approaches, rooted in an understanding of baboon needs and movement, their foraging, and social dynamics, are essential for effective, ethical, and sustainable human–wildlife coexistence in natural environments on the edge of developed areas. These interventions, combined with robust waste management practices and public engagement, have proven successful in reducing conflict while maintaining the well-being of baboons and other wildlife. These results have been reported and published in a case study in 2025.
The Draft City Waste Management Strategy raises significant concerns. These include technical and cost inconsistencies, insufficient spatial coverage, procedural irregularities, failure to uphold duties of care, and lack of meaningful engagement with stakeholders.
This submission therefore provides a critique and proposes measures to ensure that the Waste Management Strategy is ecologically effective, legally defensible, and ethically sound.
The joint submission was made by WAPFSA Members Green Group Simonstown and the Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute and supported by WAPFSA.
A Sword of Damocles: The Looming Threat of Permanent Removal of Chacma Baboons from the Cape Peninsula
Introduction
From the onset, more than thirty South African wildlife protection and conservation organisations have consistently opposed the Cape Peninsula Strategic Baboon Management Plan, which shockingly includes the deliberate extirpation of an indigenous species, the Chacma baboon species from Simon’s Town. Not only is the Plan unnecessary and cruel, crucially it fails to address, and indeed entrenches, insupportable human behaviour, which is the root cause of the negative baboon human interface.
An international wildlife organisation, Animal Survival International (ASI), has now entered the fray and sounded the alarm over the plans to permanently cage two Cape Peninsula baboon troops, highlighting obvious welfare and wellbeing issues and the potential permanent negative environmental impact.
This untenable situation has highlighted a deep divide between purposefully tone deaf authorities, aiming to cleanse certain suburbs of baboons, and conservationists pushing for coexistence, proper waste management and the protection of the baboons in their natural, though dwindling, habitat.
It is unfortunate, that the decision to remove and cage the baboons, and unnaturally and cruelly cast them into captivity for exhibition, has silenced some conservationists because they have been made to believe that if they oppose the permanent caging of the baboons, the baboons will be killed.
Cape Town – A City Deeply at Odds with Itself: Rapid Urban Development and Tourism versus the Protection of Biodiversity
Cape Town is located in an endangered ecosystem. The decision to permanently remove two entire baboon troops from Simon’s Town is contradictory to the content of the published Biodiversity Spatial Plan 2025 for Cape Town. The plan is striving to ensure that the City of Cape Town ecosystems remain intact. The intention of the Cape Town BioNet is to reduce conflict between environmental and developmental sectors by providing up-to-date information on biodiversity priorities that will guide forward planning, future development and conservation of nature.
The Western Cape’s biodiversity is threatened by tourism’s growing pressures which are leading to habitat loss, increased pollution, and strain on water resources. Tourism businesses in the Western Cape are being urged to prioritise biodiversity protection as visitor numbers continue to rise, placing growing pressure on the region’s natural systems.
The Cape Peninsula’s critical status as a global biodiversity hotspot, known as the Cape Floristic Region, and tourism’s growing recognition of the need for conservation, is sounding the alarm for the integration of sustainable practises into development and operations to protect the fragile ecosystems. In reality though, the rapid development for tourism infrastructure such as more accommodation, is encroaching on natural areas, fragmenting crucial habitats. Increased human activity is heightening risks to endangered plants and animals.
It is not only the growing tourism industry that is threatening biodiversity in the Western Cape, the City of Cape Town is actively pushing rapid development through major infrastructure projects, renewable energy initiatives housing plans, port expansion and economic strategies to boost tourism and jobs all guided by long-term plans like the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the Cape Town 2050 Long-term Plan.
The Atlantic Seaboard is experiencing a rapid high-density development boom, driven by intense investor interest, the post covid recovery of tourism and semigration. While this has fuelled record-breaking property sales it has simultaneously raised concerns about infrastructure strain, traffic congestion and loss of long-term rental affordability. Now there is increased urban and suburban development eroding the unique cultural, environmental and rural character of regions known as the Deep South on the Southern Peninsula of Cape Town. There are anxieties about unchecked modernisation and urban sprawl displacing local identity, green spaces and community character.
The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum of South Africa (WAPFSA) contends that the Chacma baboon’s needs and natural behaviours are being disregarded in favour of trade and industry and rapid urban development. The Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Action Plan, agreed upon by the City of Cape Town led by the Democratic Alliance, SANParks and CapeNature, is a plan that aims to minimise human baboon interaction and keep baboons out of urban areas, primarily through measures such as permanent displacement and killing.
Their latest Action Plan includes capturing and relocating the Seaforth and Waterfall baboon troops from Simon’s Town to purpose built cages on private land on Plateau Road next door to the Cape Point Ostrich Farm. This facility will be open to paying tourists in order to sustain the costs involved with the permanent caging of the baboons.
CapeNature, one of the decisionmakers, is a conservation authority that formally aligns its policies with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines. Under the IUCN conflict-mitigation framework, the capture of a wild population and its placement into permanent captivity is not scientifically recognised or even quoted as a policy position.
It is also important to note that the Cape Peninsula Baboon Strategic Management Plan, made no reference to, nor made provision for, the capture and the permanent captivity of baboons. This proposal emerged later as part of the “final” Action Plan. This decision was published offering no scientific basis or reference to any public consultation.
The recently published 2025 Baboon Population Census commissioned by the Cape Baboon Partnership, a collaboration between Shark Spotters and the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team comprising of the City of Cape Town, South African National Parks and CapeNature states that there are a total of 463 baboon individuals in the 12 managed troops on the Cape Peninsula. This number excludes the baboons living in the Cape Point section of Table Mountain National Park and the Plateau Road troop. This total number represents a 5.3% decline relative to the census carried out in 2024. Baboon conservation organisations have published their concerns, noting the high losses of troop members including the death of 101 baboons during this reporting period.
In the census document, the Seaforth troop, comprising of 16 individuals, is described as a troop that: “sleeps in surrounding mountainous areas but spends substantial portions of the day moving, through or attempting to access, the adjacent urban environment, bringing it into close proximity with residential areas and the critically endangered African penguin colony. This presents ongoing welfare and conservation challenges. In line with the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Action Plan, a planned intervention will involve relocating the troop to a purpose built sanctuary to reduce the so-called conflict, limit ecological risk and improve welfare outcomes.”
The Waterfall troop, numbering 44 individuals, is described as: “spending a substantial proportion of its time in transformed environments, including regular use of urban areas in Simons Town, despite sustained ranger efforts to limit access. Under these conditions, the troop is exposed to elevated risk, relies heavily on anthropogenic food sources, and experiences ongoing disturbance. In line with the Action Plan, a planned management intervention will involve relocating the troop to a purpose-built sanctuary to address ongoing welfare and risk concerns for both baboons and residents.”
This forced, unnatural removal of baboons in order to “reduce conflict, limit ecological risk and improve welfare outcomes” is taking place in a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this cleansing of baboons is to be carried out by a city that markets itself globally as being abundantly ecologically diverse.
The permanent captivity plan for the baboons goes against their natural free-ranging existence. The plan also includes the sterilisation of male baboons which means that the baboons from Seaforth and Waterfall troops that survive the capture process will be the last surviving baboons from these historic troops. Tourists will be able to witness first-hand, what is, in our opinion, a failure of the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team to protect, and sustain these baboons in their natural habitat.
Why are the Authorities Ignoring a Genuine Alternative?
Dr Dave Gaynor a Zoologist, a conservation ecologist, an expert in biodiversity, and wildlife management, has said that after a quarter of a century of baboon management, research and millions of rands spent, “we are going backwards.”
“Ecologically, losing baboons would be catastrophic for the Peninsula. Chacma baboons are not simply charismatic primates and a drawcard for tourists; they are a major seed disperser and ecosystem engineers within fynbos and move nutrients from low-lying areas to nutrient-poor high lying areas where they sleep. Studies and ecological assessments emphasise their role in dispersing seeds and potentially aiding germination, especially in post-fire landscapes where they forage on exposed seeds and early regrowth.
The baboons are part of the machinery that keeps this globally unique vegetation type functioning. Remove them, and you remove the resilience of the entire system. There is no neighbouring baboon population waiting to recolonise the southern Peninsula. Once they are gone, they are gone.”
WAPFSA questions why the detailed plans submitted by conservation organisations familiar with the baboons in Simon’s Town were never considered for discussion. These conservation organisations are most familiar with the baboon troop behaviour in Simons Town over decades, agree that partial fencing using tried and tested baboon fencing could be part of a solution that should be seriously and transparently considered.
This particular fencing is recognised by the Baboon Technical Team, animal welfare organisations and researchers at UCT’s Baboon Research Unit as a prototype for effective human-baboon overlap mitigation. Dr Gaynor has proposed an electrified baboon-proof fence along the existing firebreak above the town, bundled with the firebreak maintenance that is already required for safety.
Conservation organisations believe that the proposed fence line does not have to be continuous. They also believe that the natural wild areas for the baboons behind this fencing needs to be protected. This fenceline would make it possible for local baboon monitors and residents to prevent incursions without a small army field staff patrolling the mountain every day. It would confine baboons to their natural habitat while still allowing them to forage right up to the fence, which actually increases their effective home range by removing the constant need to be chased off the lower slopes. The fence is designed to safely allow unhindered access to mammals such as grey mongoose and genets and allow access to the mountain through gates at the trailhead, ensuring continued public access to the mountain. It would also protect the Boulders penguin colony by closing off the most used baboon and, most importantly, caracal’s access routes from the mountain into the coastal areas.
Conclusion
As long as anthropogenic attractants and unmanaged waste remain accessible, even a small number of baboons will enter areas to exploit those resources. Improving waste management and securing the safety and ecological integrity of the mountain in Simons Town are not optional measures; they are fundamental obligations under the existing management framework.
Experts have repeatedly warned that removing entire troops through killing or permanent captivity risks creating a genetic bottleneck within the remaining baboon populations. Both authorities and scientists have acknowledged this concern, yet no credible solution has been presented to address the long-term genetic consequences of removing a significant number of individuals from an already declining and geographically isolated population.
The Joint Task Team’s decision to capture the baboons (and kill those individuals who evade capture) and to permanently confine those who are captured, is in our opinion irrational and disproportionate. Such extreme measures are being pursued without implementing less invasive mitigation options explicitly identified in the management framework.
The excuse provided by the City of Cape Town is that they do not want to risk spending R6.5 million on a fence whose design they claim is unproven and which they fear might simply shift the baboons to other suburbs.
Dr Gaynor says that this reasoning is difficult to reconcile with the published evidence that baboon-proof fences of similar design have been successfully implemented in Zwaanswyk and other settings, and with SANParks own technical report acknowledging that such fences have been developed, refined and demonstrated in other parts of South Africa.
Yet the City of Cape Town is satisfied to risk spending in excess of R10 000 000 on building cages on private land. The annual costs needed to care for the caged baboons is considerable.
What is the real reason that the City of Cape Town wants the baboon permanently removed from Simons Town? Is the municipality planning further development in Simonstown? Is this why the City of Cape Town is reluctant to consider the alternative, more natural measures to discourage the baboons from entering the central business district? Is this an unwritten Democratic Alliance plan? To remove all inconvenient baboon species from the Cape Peninsula and the Overstrand?
Capetonians are apparently being forced to select a touted less harmful option between two undesirable choices, supposedly to choose the lesser of two evils. This suggests a dilemma where the only alternatives are captivity or death. This presents a false dichotomy, particularly because there are other robust and viable solutions besides caging or killing.
This framing relies on an unstated premise: that baboons must be permanently excluded from the south peninsula regardless of whether humans can reduce conflict drivers. But that premise is neither ethically neutral nor empirically established in the Action Plan narrative. If the real problem is attractants and predictable conflict points, then the relevant decision is not “cage or kill”, but which evidence-based, non-lethal coexistence measures will be implemented first, enforced consistently, and evaluated transparently. WAPFSA believes that the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team may be deliberately misrepresenting the issue by presenting only two mutually exclusive options rather than the full, nuanced range of options. Importantly, a spectrum of possibilities exists.
Examples of realistic third options (and combinations of options) include:
Targeted spatial exclusion of food hotspots (protect specific high-risk edges rather than attempting permanent exclusion from entire suburbs).
Non-lethal behavioural management protocols that are internationally recognised and least-aversive, with independent monitoring and reporting.
Community coexistence requirements (baboon-proofing, waste compliance, and education as preconditions before any wildlife removal is justified).
Habitat/connectivity interventions that reduce forced urban crossings and bottlenecks.
This calculated oversimplification has led to flawed decision-making by fallaciously forcing a choice between two extremes. Simply put, the scenario is a constructed false dilemma scenario where the baboons presently living in Simonstown will be (i) captured and relocated to live out the remainder of their lives in cages and on display or (ii) they will all be killed.
The DA’s Action Plan for Baboon Management on the Cape Peninsula is a Grotesque Reminder of South Africa’s Terrible Past
PUBLIC STATEMENT
Members of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA) Primate Working Group, who are also representatives on the Cape Peninsula Baboon Advisory Group (CPBAG), walked out in protest during a Cape Peninsula Baboon Management meeting, held on Thursday, 20th November 2025.
The meeting was convened to announce the Action Plan, key actions, budget and timeframes for the future management of baboons on the Cape Peninsula.
The CPBAG, is a supposed stakeholder body, ostensibly established to advise the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team (CPBMJTT) on the implementation of the Baboon Strategic Management Plan. Theoretically, the group facilitates communication between the CPBMJJ comprising representatives from SANParks, the City of Cape Town, and CapeNature, and communities, interest groups, and stakeholders to address human-baboon issues on the Cape Peninsula.
Communications addressed to the CPBAG from WAPFSA have never been acknowledged.
The Cape Peninsula is a global biodiversity hotspot. Nonetheless, there has been rapid development of urban areas and the expansion of the human footprint at great cost to the environment and driving significantbiodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation. Indigenous Chacma baboons on the Cape Peninsula have, consequently, lost vital food sources, foraging areas and traditional sleep sites and this has obviously led to more frequent human baboon interactions.
The goal of the CPBMJTT was to formulate a new strategy for the sustainable management of these baboons, supposedly for their long-term survival. On the 29 May 2025, the CPBMJTT announced a plan to remove several baboon troops from the Cape Peninsula due to increasing human conflict with baboons and limited natural foraging areas The task team stated that the health and welfare of baboons is compromised by their time spent in urban areas. The proposed actions included translocation to sanctuaries, the killing of baboons, or a combination of these options. The affected baboons were the Waterfall troop in Simon’s Town, the Seaforth troop in Simonstown, the CT1 troop in Constantia, the CT2 troop in Constantia and the Da Gama baboons in Glencairn.
On the 2 June 2025, thirty-four wildlife welfare organisations supported, the WAPFSA Cease and Desist Letteraddressed to the City of Cape Town, SANParks, CapeNature and Sharkspotters with regard to the proposal by the CPBMJTT to stop the removal of 121 baboons from the Cape Peninsula.
In the interim, the CPBMJTT has allegedly, robustly reviewed expert opinions and has widely considered public comments. The final decisions recorded in the Action Plan were inappropriately announced to the media before the CPBAG members had even been informed of these decisions on 20 November 2025.
WAPFSA’s Public Statement – The Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team (CPBMJTT) Action Plan:
PROVINCIAL POLICIES ON BABOONS: THE SHOCKING CASE OF THE ABANDONED STORMBERG BABOONS
National and Provincial legislation, policies and attitudes towards indigenous primates are largely responsible for the persecution and extirpation of baboons in South Africa. They are trophy hunted, shot, poisoned, electrocuted on pylons, run over by vehicles, trapped for traditional medicine and bushmeat and killed by dogs. Many infants and juvenile baboons are orphaned when their mothers are killed. There is a dire need for educational sanctuaries and rehabilitation centres willing to take in orphaned and injured baboons and offer them protection and a life with their own kind either in natural habitat sanctuaries or back in the wild.
The establishment of the Stormberg Conservation Baboon Rehabilitation Centre and Sanctuary (NPC 2020/1148708) was officially permitted by the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) in the Eastern Cape. This so-called sanctuary dissolved without warning or notice in 2024 leaving thirty-nine Chacma baboons lives at risk on Klipfontein Farm, Witkop (near Burgersdorp).
Several non profit organisations, members of WAPFSA have been trying to assist these abandoned baboons. Primate C.A.R.E. agreed to help to manage the facility remotely with funding provided by the EMS Foundationto ensure that the rescued baboons were provided with food and other necessities and that staff employed at Klipfontein Farm who directly cared for the baboons were paid and provided with electricity. This emergency agreement came with the proviso that the baboons were allowed to remain safely in their enclosures on the farm owned by Theunis du Plessis for a period of twelve months or until a suitable new permanent sanctuary home could be established for them in the Eastern Cape. Karin Morgan agreed to oversee the day-to-day care of the baboons during this period and for that reason the provincial nature conservation permit was issued and registered in her name.
As a last resort, when no suitable rehabilitation facility could be determined in the Eastern Cape, the EMS Foundation offered to assist with the funding of the relocation of these thirty-nine baboons from the Eastern Cape to Primate C.A.R.E. in Limpopo Province. The EMS Foundation also agreed to fund the costs of constructing new enclosures for the baboons as well as provide funding towards their rehabilitation at Primate C.A.R.E.
DEDEAT agreed to provide permits for the thirty-nine baboons to be exported to Primate C.A.R.E. in Limpopo Province for rehabilitation and for them to be relocated back into the Eastern Cape for release by negotiated arrangement with private reserve owners. Of concern is the Eastern Cape authorities were not willing to provide these rehabilitated baboons an opportunity of release in any of their provincial reserves.
WAPFSA members have been reliably informed that orphaned baboons have been relocated from facilities who act as halfway houses for rescued primates, including baboons, in Eastern Cape Province to another primate sanctuary which is also based in Limpopo Province.
We Wild Africa a non-profit wildlife translocation logistical organisation agreed to provide the veterinary and logistical expertise for both the short-term and long-term planning for this emergency project. Primate C.A.R.E agreed to accept the thirty-nine baboons where each baboon will be individually assessed, and if need be, all thirty-nine baboons would be quarantined.
It is difficult to give an exact estimate of time that it will take to rehabilitate the baboons. Despite this fact, a reasonable timeframe has indeed been provided by Primate C.A.R.E one that has satisfied DEDEAT and therefore it should also be acceptable to the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET).
WAPFSA is aware that the current permit held by Primate C.A.R.E stipulates that the import of baboons from other provinces are prohibited. However, the baboons are not going to remain in the Limpopo permanently they are going to be exported back to the Eastern Cape after they have been rehabilitated, i.e. this is a temporary arrangement. Moreover, WAPFSA questions the legality of refusal of baboons into Limpopo for sanctuary and rehabilitation.
Considering that there is a feasible solution for the thirty-nine baboons WAPFSA believes that LEDET should urgently consider the merits this extraordinary application which is supported by a number of wildlife conservation non-profit organisations and a provincial conservation agency in order to expedite a final decision/position on this matter. The parties concerned requested an urgent meeting between LEDET/EMS/CARE/DEDEA and the logistics and veterinarian experts. Unfortunately LEDET has refused this meeting.
Of critical importance is the fact that the owner of the farm in the Eastern Cape has requested that the baboons are removed as they no longer have a valid permit. According to DEDEA they are also suggesting that the thirty-nine baboons are killed within 72 hours.
“The landowner, may open the cages and chase the animals out and have a competent hunter dispatch the animals as humanly as possible. This option is the most cost effective for the landowner”
WAPFSA is hereby URGENTLY APPEALING to LEDET, particularly the Acting Director for Wildlife Trade and Regulation, Ms Paulina Moeng, to allow special permit conditions for this emergency situation.
WAPFSA has grave concerns about provincial authorities enabling the cruel, indiscriminate and unscientific management of vervet monkeys.
It has come to WAPFSA’s attention that some conservation agencies, including Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, may be permitting the removal or even the eradication of individual or entire troops of indigenous non-human primates such as the vervet monkey.
A communication from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife on the 10th October 2025 addressed to the Umdoni Retirement Community advises residents that Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the South African Police Services will be conducting a scheduled Wildlife Management Programme in the Umdoni.
WAPFSA questions whether permits have been issued without reliable scientific data and without adhering to best practices or carrying out sufficient due diligence, such as the assessment of the vervet monkeys or impacts on the overall populations of this species or targeted individuals affected.
Vervet monkeys are listed under CITES Appendix II, however provincial and national scientific authorities are failing to provide the Minister or CITES with the legally required Non-Detriment Finding. Moreover, there has been no public consultation by provincial and national authorities in relation to our indigenous primates.
There is no evidence, despite extensive research by members of WAPFSA, of verifiable data collected by any of the provinces in relation to damage or threats to humans or pets from vervet monkeys, or evidence of effective and non-violent measures to prevent human conflict with these primates.
In areas where there is the prospect for human-primate conflict, there are a number of simple precautions to take or solutions that can be implemented to reduce such conflict, such as, for example, making sure food is not visible from any windows, properly disposing of domestic waste and, if necessary, installing clear primate barriers. These simple strategies must be exhausted before considering any other option.
Often, in response to anecdotal reports or complaints linked to lifestyle considerations rather than real conflict, authorities have been known to issue very broad questionable permits to allow invasive and cruel management procedures instead of insisting upon non-lethal solutions.
Similarly, scientists advise that when vervet monkeys are killed, the removal of an entire or part of a troop is highly traumatic and cruel. Members of a large troop cannot be killed simultaneously which results in some of the troop members being traumatized. This impacts the entire troop.
DOWNLOAD WAPFSA COMMUNICATION SENT TO EZEMVELO KZN WILDLIFE:
Comments were submitted by environmental lawyers Cullinan and Associates to Nsovo Environmental Consulting on behalf of the landowners and entities which will be negatively affected by the proposed 131 km power line and substation works in Limpopo Province, South Africa.
“The Limpopo Province is characterised by exceptional biodiversity, offering both opportunities and constraints to development. Being so rich in natural resources – particularly in mineral deposits, agricultural potential, and eco-tourism assets – the province is well-positioned as a key contributor to South Africa’s economy. At the same time, these environmental assets are of national and global significance and therefore require careful management to ensure that development is sustainable and occurs within the ecological limits of the region.
Limpopo’s environmental landscape includes world-renowned conservation areas such as the Kruger National Park, numerous provincial and private nature reserves, two World Heritage Sites, two Ramsar wetlands, three Biosphere Reserves, two Transfrontier Conservation Areas, and several Important Bird Areas and Centres of Floristic Endemism. Collectively, these features form a network of ecosystems that underpin biodiversity, eco-tourism, and community livelihoods, and which contribute significantly to the province’s identity and sustainable development prospects.
Within this context, Foskor (Pty) Ltd operates as a major industrial actor in the province. Foskor is a South African company based in Phalaborwa, specialising in the extraction of phosphate rock, foskorite, and pyroxenite. The extracted phosphate rock is transported daily by rail to Foskor’s acid division in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, using a dedicated megaRAIL service for the production of phosphoric acid and fertiliser products. These products are primarily exported to international markets, with a smaller portion sold domestically. The proposed Merensky-Foskor 130 km powerline upgrade project has been presented as necessary to sustain and expand Foskor’s industrial operations.
The eco-tourism and conservation-based industries, which are prominent in this province, depend entirely on environments that are natural and that have been altered in only the most minimal way by human structures and activities. In this setting – where biodiversity conservation and sustainable land use are of central importance – any proposed infrastructure must be rigorously assessed to ensure that it does not erode the province’s ecological resilience, scenic integrity or long-term economic sustainability.
Amongst other, the 2025 Draft EIR has accordingly failed to give due consideration to the significance of our clients’ properties as an extension of the protected area complex surrounding the Kruger National Park, and the pristine status of the bushveld environment that will be negatively affected by the proposed powerline project. The consequence of this is that the 2025 Draft EIR has failed to identify and/or understated potentially significant impacts which the proposed powerline project will have for conservation efforts and related eco-tourism initiatives in the area. This failure to conduct a comprehensive, contextual assessment of the impacts on the receiving environment, before the environmental authorisation is granted, leaves significant gaps in understanding the full environmental consequences of the proposed project. This means that the 2025 Draft EIR will not enable a comprehensive consideration of all relevant factors by the competent authority to inform a rational and defensible decision. “
DOWNLOAD AND READ THE SUBMISSION MADE BY ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYERS CULLINAN AND ASSOCIATESON BEHALF OF WAPFSA AND OTHER AFFECTED PARTIES:
WAPFSA is in agreement with Dr Dave Gaynor, an outspoken expert appointed to the Joint Task Team: “It is a serious shortcoming that the City of Cape Town is committing the vast majority of funds to this programme and being the public front for action undertaken by the programme. The principal mandate to protect biodiversity and wildlife health sits squarely with SANParks and CapeNature — institutions established precisely for this purpose. Expecting a municipality with broad social obligations (housing, welfare, services) to shoulder the primary financial burden of baboon management while national and provincial conservation agencies abstain, violates core principles of ecological governance and biodiversity stewardship. At minimum, SANParks and CapeNature should commit resources equal to the City’s contributions.”
WAPFSA Members the Green Group Simonstown and the Southern African Faith Communities Environmental Institute Submitted Comprehensive Comments to Joint Task Team:
