Illegal hunting syndicates are running amok in farming communities across the country, pillaging farms and killing anything that moves.
Hunters and their dogs cross onto a farm to hunt for game on a nearby farm, 28 October 2021, Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal. Picture: Jacques Nelles
A cow that had it’s ears torn by a roaming pack of hunting dogs on a farm near Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal, 26 October 2021. Picture: Jacques Nelles A South African Agricultural Industry 2018 report quotes a study by the University of KwaZulu-Natal that dogs were not the most efficient, but were nonetheless brutal killers, ripping pieces from their victims while they are still alive.
Since the fire is not controlled, everything in its path, including crops, farming implements, and infrastructure, is destroyed. Potgieter said he has opened more than 50 cases of trespassing and hunting with dogs with the police, but that no one has ever been arrested or prosecuted. Roelofse explained that there has been illegal hunting in the past but said this was manageable as it was people from neighbouring communities hunting for the pot. Now, however, syndicates have taken over.
“We have a big problem concerning illegal hunting, trespassing and nothing going for us. Our lives are in danger. I am scared because I cannot do anything. When you go out to accost the people, they stone your vehicle. If you do anything, you go to jail,” cattle farmer Dirk Wessels said.
A young Greyhound plays in the yard at their home near Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal, 27 October 2021. Prices for hunting dogs on the market can range from R10 000 to R50 000. Picture: Jacques Nelles “My father was hunting these areas and hunting is part of me. We eat everything that we hunt and nothing goes to waste. Black farmers do allow us to hunt in their farms as long as we ask for their permission, but white farmers are problematic,” Ngcobo said.
He conceded that their organisation could not control all the hunters, and that there were those who were irresponsible and would hunt anywhere and anything. Ngcobo said hunting with dogs was not only a tradition and culture, carried from generation to generation, but that it was also spiritual as some Zulu rituals were preceded by hunting.
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