The ink was hardly dry on my Security Report and a letter to National Parks when I received a rather shocking telephone call.

In these two articles I wrote about the prevention by National Parks of the utilisation of wildlife on commercial farms by their legitimate owners. The Parks official had found himself unable to sign the farmer’s Notification of Hunting Intentions form due to the previous serving of a Section 8 notice under the disruptive and highly controversial political land programme.

In short the legitimate farm owners are being prevented from hunting yet the illegal A1 and A2 settlers are being given permission to cash in on the remaining wildlife. As we all know there is very little wildlife left in this district where it was once so abundant.

National Parks in Beit Bridge has apparently exceeded its mandate by considering itself the “appropriate authority” on the commercial farms by ordering a safari company which normally hunts on the Campfire concession areas in the communal and resettlement areas, to hunt on the “acquired” farms. These farms are still occupied by their legitimate owners whilst their life’s work and financial situation is being destroyed by the settlers.

Part of my report referred to a South African who was seen negotiating with settlers for hunting rights on one such farm.

The telephone call was from Harare reporting that a young South African who was had an unusual number of gold chains decorating his body was boasting about his hunting concessions in the Beit Bridge farming district. Of course my friend choked him off over this issue telling him a few home truths.

Further more he was boasting about having delivered some 400 Zebra skins, from a Zimbabwean ranch, into South Africa. We can only presume that that ranch is perhaps Nuanetsi Ranch, which belongs to DTZ. He also boasted many other suspicious cross border dealings.

He was adamant that he was just running a business but showed little concern that he was cashing in on the plight of the commercial farmers whose lives and properties had been shattered by the present confrontational political land programme.

Is this what is going to happen to the remnants of the wildlife which was so carefully nurtured and cared for on commercial farms in Zimbabwe before this political programme?

Are the young white South Africans (“settlers” and others) going to be encouraged to be like vultures and feast and gloat over the commercial farmers’ misfortune and demise?

Can we allow this to continue whilst our remaining wildlife is just finished off by people who are just on the take and have no intention of ever putting anything back into the future of this wonderful country?

Names were not mentioned in the report but we have since discovered that the man bedecked with gold jewellery is Nick van Zyl and he operates together with his father, Ron van Zyl.