Totally unknown by all the hunting communities which she claims to represent, South Africa’s Melanie Verwoerd was this week disowned by residents of her own country South Africa, and Southern African hunting communities.
They were reacting to the British newspaper, The Mirror’s article in which Melanie Verwoerd lied that she represents millions of South Africans and Africans.
Yet the true representatives of the true representatives millions of wildlife-rich Southern African hunting communities have collectively said that they don’t know her, denounced and dismissed her as “a liar who knows nothing about how international hunting income is significantly benefiting the Southern African hunting communities socioeconomically, including wildlife conservation”.
She told the Mirror: “I speak on behalf of millions of South Africans and Africans – many of whom are scientists and academics – who find this practice [international hunting] absolutely abhorrent and horrible and want it to stop.
“We would like the British Government to take the lead in helping us to stop this colonial practice.”
The Community Association of South Africans in Natural Resources (CASA Nature) Secretary-General, Lourence Mogakane denounced, disowned, and dismissed Melanie Verwoerd as an individual who doesn’t represent the interests of South African hunting communities, including other Southern African hunting communities.
“All I know about her is that she’s the former wife of the apartheid architect, Hendrik Verwoerd’s grandson,” said CASA Nature Secretary-General Mogakane.
“Without Sustainable hunting, we cannot afford to provide water and other essential resources that are essential for animals to survive,” said the secretary of a South African hunting community, Tshivhula Communal Property Association, Limpopo Province, Simon Mafela.
“The Tshivhula Communal Property Association’s international hunting-related projects currently employ 24 permanent staff and 120 seasonal workers that can feed their families while they help to secure the habitat of many plant and animal species.”
“I wish to record that I have never met or heard from Melanie Verwoerd and I reject the view or suggestion that she speaks on behalf of us as South African communities,” said Mafela.
“I feel betrayed that someone can claim to speak for me without consulting me.
“Banning trophy hunting will destroy wildlife and the individuals who are working will lose their jobs.
“The community may be forced to change land use options, causing loss of wildlife habitat and discouragement for wildlife conservation.”
Meanwhile, Mogakane of CASA Nature has invited Melanie Verwoerd to go to the Tshivhula hunting community of the Limpopo Province “to see what positive impact the trophy hunters bring to the land owners who use their land to develop and feed their children through the international trophy hunters.”
“We’re talking here about communities who scramble for food to feed children and to pay for their schooling,” he said. “How dare you compare an animal’s life to that of humans?” he asked.
“It’s also ironic that Melanie Verwoerd calls upon the former colonial masters [e.g. British Government] to come and dictate terms to Africans in the same manner that Africans were colonised.
“Let Africans speak for themselves and stop using the academic institutions to speak for the majority without their mandate.”
The CASA Nature represents the needs of South African rural communities to significantly benefit from their natural resources through international hunting, trade in wildlife products, and medicinal plant benefits.
At the regional level, 20 million residents of 12 Southern African countries’ hunting communities are represented by the Southern African Community Leaders Network (CLN).
The CLN’s official and never-changing position is that wildlife resources should directly benefit the rural populations who share their land with and look after these resources.
Reacting to Melanie Verwoerd’s appeal for the UK Government to ban trophy hunting imports, the CLN Chairman, Dr Rodgers Lubilo said: “This not only undermines African conservation sovereignty but threatens the livelihoods and sustainable conservation practices that our communities have worked to secure.”
A beneficiary of the South Luangwa hunting community’s wildlife revenue-renovated school, Dr Lubilo said that that Melanie Verwoerd’s published statements in The Mirror this month should be dismissed and denounced in the strongest terms because “she is not speaking for Southern African local communities, but for herself.”
The CLN press statement said Melanie Verwoerd’s stance against trophy hunting imports into the UK, “implies a unified African opposition to this practice [international hunting], which is far from reality.”
“The CLN, as the legitimate representative of Southern African communities, fundamentally opposes her claims,” said the CLN press statement, disassociating the Southern African hunting communities entirely with her statements.”
Botswana’s Chieftainess Rebecca Banika of one of that country’s richest hunting communities, Pandamantega, also dismissed, denounced, and disowned Melanie Verwoerd.
“Melanie Verwoerd is lying,” she said.
“We know nothing about her, she is not our spokesperson and she knows nothing about what is happening in hunting communities.
“Therefore, we’re inviting her to Botswana to see for herself the conservation and development projects supported by international hunting income.”
Meanwhile, Chieftainess Banika has advised the British Government, citizens, and media that “they shouldn’t listen to Melanie Verwoerd because she is on her own and not representing any hunting community in Southern Africa.”
She said that as long as communities benefit from wildlife, they don’t poach it.
“They only poach when hunting has stopped because of the anger of being harmed by wild animals through crop destruction, human and livestock killings – without receiving benefits from them,” said Chieftainess Banika.
Tebogo James of Botswana’s Tcheku Community in Ngamiland said that Western nations, including the British Government, must establish equitable working relations with Southern African hunting communities.
“If they fail to do so, they risk alienating themselves from African countries,” said Tcheku. “We are deeply concerned by statements of Melanie Verwoerd whom we have never met or engaged and Southern African hunting communities need to seek legal counsel regarding this matter.
“Who does she think she is to dictate to our communities?”
From Zimbabwe’s Hwange District hunting community, a near-fatal elephant attack survivor, Biggie Shoko disowned Melanie Verwoerd as someone who doesn’t represent them and denounced her for threatening to take away international hunting income that significantly supports wildlife conservation and socioeconomic development there.
“Melanie Verwoerd’s actions make her worse than poachers because the ban on hunting trophies imports into the UK will take away hunting benefits from the communities,” said Shoko who fears that the elephant bull that almost killed him might attack him again in the future.
“Without hunting benefits that Melanie is threatening to take away from the Southern African hunting communities will be forced to poach wildlife.”
Elsewhere in Zimbabwe, the Executive Director of the Community Campfire Association of Zimbabwe and a resident of one of the richest and pioneer CAMPFIRE District Council [Guruve] where wildlife hunting revenue-built Masoka Secondary School produced medical doctors, teachers, nurses, accountants, and technicians, Ishmael Chaukura said, “Unfortunately, Melanie Verwoerd’s lies will bring a lot of confusion and harm to Southern Africa’s sustainable use focused wildlife management through international hunting.”
*About the Writer: Emmanuel Koro is a Johannesburg-based independent international award-winning environmental journalist who writes extensively on environmental and developmental issues in Africa.
*The views expressed by the author of this article, Emmanuel Koro, are not necessarily those of The Bulrushes
