KuGompo City (East London) – One of the largest privately held conservation properties in the Eastern Cape has been put up for sale.
Tyityaba Nature Reserve, a proclaimed reserve covering roughly 13 000 hectares on the Wild Coast, has been listed at an indicative R145 million (about USD 8.9 million), according to the selling agent, Bass Property Group.
The property sits about 18 kilometres inland from Kei Mouth. Its status as a gazetted proclaimed reserve, a designation under South African law, ties the land to long-term conservation management and places it within a category of property that has drawn growing interest from investors looking for protected land.
Listings of this scale are uncommon, and proclaimed reserves seldom change hands, making the sale a notable event in the regional market.
Scale and setting
Size is the reserve’s most distinguishing feature.
It holds about 26 kilometres of frontage along the Kei River and a perimeter of roughly 81 kilometres, taking in rolling bushveld, riverine thicket and the open vistas typical of the Wild Coast, a region known for its biodiversity and its remoteness.
The varied terrain supports a mix of habitats, from valley grassland to dense thicket, that sustains the reserve’s wildlife through the seasons.
That remoteness is relative.
King Phalo Airport in KuGompo City (East London), which has direct flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town, is about an hour away by road, placing the reserve within comfortable reach of major centres while preserving the seclusion that defines the Wild Coast.
Wildlife
The reserve carries buffalo, giraffe, leopard, zebra, blue wildebeest, eland and impala, along with a wide range of birdlife.
Populations of spiral-horned antelope, such as nyala, kudu and bushbuck, are prolific and well established.
Tyityaba has a long record of regulated, quota-based wildlife use carried out within South Africa’s conservation framework, and its established game populations would allow a new owner to continue managed conservation operations without a lengthy restocking period.
Infrastructure
The main lodge has eight en-suite bedrooms and shared entertainment areas.
The property also includes an abattoir and workshop, with several other farm dwellings spread across the holding that could house staff or be developed to accommodate guests.
An airstrip on site would need upgrading before it could be used, though it raises the possibility of fly-in access alongside the road route from East London.
Together, the existing buildings give a buyer a working base from which to operate or further develop the reserve.
How it can be bought
The land is made up of 26 portions across five titles. It can be bought as a single holding or, the agent says, divided among several owners as a development.
That structure is part of what they expect will determine who comes forward.
“Tyityaba is a large landholding of a kind that rarely comes to the open market in South Africa,” said Hanlie Bassingthwaighte, a principal of Bass Property Group.
“Its main strength is flexibility. It can work as a single-owner reserve or as the basis for a development shared among several owners.”
Price
The reserve is listed at an indicative R145 million (about USD 8.9 million).
The agent attributes the figure to the property’s size, biodiversity and the range of ownership options it allows.
“Twenty-six kilometres of river frontage and 13 000 hectares of established habitat take generations to form and cannot be recreated,” said Joshua Bassingthwaighte, also a principal of the firm.
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