10. "A SHOCKING WASTE OF EXCELLENT COUNTRY " - THE DEPROCLAMATION BATTLE
For more than 50 years following its establishment as a game reserve,
persistent calls were made to abolish Mkhuze. The first calls for the
abolishment of the Mkhuze Game Reserve came in 1914, only two years after
proclamation of the reserve in 1912 and determined efforts to achieve this
objective continued right through to the late 1960s. On a number of occasions
over the years, one or another of the campaigns to abolish the game reserve
came very close to succeeding in its objective. In each case, as if by some
divine intervention, the "Sword of Damocles" never actually fell.
Initially, the principal reason for the call to deproclaim the reserve
was the presence of the tsetse fly in the reserve, the Nagana that it caused
and the threat that this disease was perceived to hold to organized farming in
the area. In 1914, R.A. Branden, a government official based at Ubombo,
reported that "malaria and Nagana are the curse of this Division". Writing about the Mkhuze game Reserve, he said
that "this is ideal country for cattle, having the appearance of an
English park... a few years ago it was heavily stocked with cattle, but it is
now given up entirely to game. There are now thousands and thousands of
wildebeest roaming around this area, and a large number of game, vermin,
carnivore and other wild beasts. It is a shocking waste of excellent
country". Later, efforts to abolish the
reserve assumed political connotations, much of which was centred around the
building of the Jozini Dam on the Pongola River and the concomitant attempts
of the Nationalist government to establish agricultural enterprises on the
Makatini Flats.
With the perception of Nagana as being a threat to farming, the first
organized attempt to eliminate game in the Ubombo area took place in August
1917. Game was seen to be the main cause for the spreading of the disease and
a campaign for the wholesale destruction of game in the area was launched.
During this campaign close on 25 000 blue wildebeest, and hundreds of animals
of other species fell to the bullet. The campaign, however, did not have the
desired effect of curbing the disease or solving their problem as far as the
local farmers were concerned.
Two years later, in December 1919, the Chief Native Commissioner: Natal
again took the matter of Nagana up with the Secretary for Native Affairs in
Pretoria. He informed him that the Natal Provincial Administration had
authorized the destruction of game in the Umfolozi and Ubombo Districts "in
order to prepare the land for European settlement". In his letter of 24 December 1919 he wrote "I
should like to take this opportunity of asking you to approach the Provincial
Administration with the object of abolishing the (Mkhuze) Game Reserve, lying
between reserves Nos 2 and 13. This game reserve, if not done away with, is
going to be a source of infection and danger all round. I have repeatedly
pointed out that it is a source of danger, Reserve 13 not having been able to
possess cattle for the past 15 years or more".
"It will be extremely difficult for the native to
understand the difference in the treatment of the question as regards lands
occupied by the Europeans and themselves. Land required for farms is gradually
cleared of game and yet the native, who has to live in the reserve is
continually faced with the danger of Nagana".
"I have constantly made representations to the
Administrator on the subject of the danger of the proximity of the game
reserve lying between reserves nos 2 and 13 and known as the Mkuzi Game
Reserve. I feel that if pressure were brought to bear from Pretoria, we might
be successful in securing the abolition of the game reserve in question".
A conference held in 1925, attended by representatives from the
Department of Native Affairs, the Divisions of Entomology and Veterinary
Research, local settlers and the Minister of Agriculture, General J.C.G. Kemp.
Kemp had two simple solutions to the Nagana problem. The reserves should be
abolished and the game should be exterminated. Cooler heads prevailed though
and it was decided to wait for the results of the scientific investigation
into the disease, before any further action was taken. No action was taken in
regard to Kemp's specific request, although the matter was not allowed to rest
there. The pot was kept on the boil by persistent complaints from farmers
regarding the existence of the game reserve and the danger of Nagana from the
game that they contained, but nothing further happened in this matter for the
next five years.
From 1929 through to 1931 the further destruction of 35 000 head of game,
including 2000 Zebra from Mkhuze was reported. In September 1931 the Minister
of Agriculture launched yet another of his many calls for the abolition of
Mkhuze and other reserves in Zululand, stating that he considered that, not
only the Mkhuze Game Reserve but the Umfolozi and Hluhluwe reserves as well,
should be abolished.
The tsetse fly, always the reason behind the calls for the earlier
abolishment of the reserves, now made its first appearance, as it was to do
again later, as an unlikely ally in the fight for the retention of at least
some of the reserves.
It was in 1930, after R.H.
Harris invented his tsetse fly trap, that the first successful experiments
were made to trap large numbers of tsetse flies in the Umfolozi Game Reserve.
Following on from the success of these initial trapping operations, a
full-scale trapping programme was launched, during which over 6 000 000 flies
were caught. As a result of this successful exercise, the Natal Provincial
Administration indicated that it was willing to compromise on the question of
the retention of the three Zululand game reserves. Their suggestion was that
the Hluhluwe and Umfolozi should remain and that Mkhuze only should be
deproclaimed.
This, however, still did not satisfy the local farmers. In August 1932
the Hluhluwe and Northern Zululand Farmers' Association again approached the
Minister of Agriculture with the request that both the Umfolozi and Mkhuze
Game Reserves be abolished. This request was, in turn, forwarded to the Natal
Provincial Administration.
After re-considering the
proposal, the Administration wrote to the Minister and drew his attention to
its previous resolution. It added however that the Administration was, in
fact, prepared to abolish both the Mkhuze and Umfolozi Game Reserves, provided
adequate protection could be afforded to the squarelipped rhinos in the
Umfolozi Game Reserve. As Mkhuze
did not have any of these animals at the time, there was apparently nothing to
stop this reserve then from being deproclaimed.
Dr P. J. du Toit, the Director of Veterinary Services was then instructed
by the Minister of Agriculture to visit Zululand and submit a report to his
department on the situation there as it applied to the problem of Nagana. He
visited the area in October 1932, following which he submitted a lengthy
report to the Minister, which contained a number of recommendations regarding
the future of the Zululand game reserves. One of his conclusions was that "there would seem to be no reason why the Mkuzi and Ndumu Reserves
should be retained. Their dis-establishment would, however, involve
considerable expense. The indiscriminate destruction of game in the reserves
should, under no circumstances be permitted." Again, no immediate action was taken and Dr du Toit's report was allowed
to lie around and gather dust. Four
years were to elapse before the spectre of Nagana, as the principal reason for
the abolition of the reserve, was to re-appear.
The 1936 report of the Natal Game Reserves Commission looked at the whole
question of Nagana in Zululand and again recommended that Mkhuze be
deproclaimed. Visiting the reserve after a long dry winter, the members of the
Commission were appalled at what they saw. They were looking at the area
purely from a farming point of view. The report submitted after their tour
stated that "your
Commission was impressed, when in the Mkuzi area in August 1935 and later in
October, with the plight of the farmers in the area. Apparently no rain has
fallen for a considerable period and the drought conditions were marked. The
Commission has no hesitation in arriving at the conclusion that the Mkuzi
Reserve does not comply with the requirements for an ideal reserve".
At a subsequent meeting with the Department of Agriculture it was agreed
that "the Umfolozi and Mkuzi Reserves be abolished and steps taken to
kill off all the game in a systematic and well-organized manner". It recommended though that such action be
deferred until the Department of Agriculture could undertake the operations
that they considered necessary for the destruction of the game and the
trapping of the tsetse fly in the reserve.
To the credit of the Natal Provincial Administration it should be
mentioned that its position up to the appointment of the Commission on 1
August 1935 was very clearly stated. The Provincial Administration held the
view that "the necessity for the total abolition of the existing game
reserves had not definitely been established".
In a spirit of co-operation, the Natal Executive Committee accepted the
recommendations of the Natal Game Reserves Commission on 10 January 1936 and
requested the Department of Agriculture to indicate whether it was in a
position to take over control of the reserve. Having persistently pushed for
the abolition of the reserve, an astonishing answer was sent to the Natal
Executive in March 1936. The Department of Agriculture, In response to the
Administration's offer of control of the reserve, stated that it regretted
that it could not yet make any recommendations in connection with the control
of the area.
After 16 years of wrangling and the application of persistent pressure
from various quarters for the deproclamation of the reserve, the matter had
proceeded no further: fortunately, for the time being at least, the position
had reached a stalemate. The reserve had now been in existence for 26 years,
was still under the threat of deproclamation and the vexed question concerning
the presence of game in the area, the breeding of the tsetse fly and the
spreading of Nagana, still remained to be resolved. Convincing arguments had
to be presented that the fly constituted so great a threat to established
farming interests that it warranted the deproclamation of an area of such
incalculable value to wild life.
The lull in the battle for the retention of the reserve was to be
short-lived though and the whole question of deproclamation continued to gain
wide publicity in the press and elsewhere. There were to be arguments and
counter-arguments, agreements and counter-agreements. Accusations,
counter-accusations, theories and suggestions were made from various quarters
as to what should be done with the reserve, all of which were fueled by
further outbreaks of Nagana in the area.
A public statement was eventually issued in December 1941 which appeared
to finalize the matter: agreement had been reached between the Minister of
Lands and the Natal Provincial Executive Committee regarding the future of
Mkhuze. The terms were emphatic. The
area of State Land adjoining the Hluhluwe Game Reserve, commonly known as the
"Corridor", would be added to that reserve, subject to the proviso
that the Mkhuze and Umfolozi Game Reserves be deproclaimed.
The reserve's old protagonist, the tsetse fly, appeared on the scene for
the second time and became an unseen ally in delaying the deproclamation of
the reserve. The reasons given
all along in support of the campaign for deproclamation, namely that the
presence of the tsetse fly justified the reserve's abolition now worked in the
reserve's favour and extended its lease of life!
The Department of Agriculture was anxious to extend its research
activities on the tsetse fly and expand to Mkhuze, the trapping operations
that were being carried out in the Umfolozi and Hluhluwe Game Reserves.
In a letter written to the Provincial Secretary in May 1939, Dr P.J. du
Toit, Director of Veterinary Services stated that "as
you are aware, it was decided some years ago, by mutual consent, that the
Mkuzi Game Reserve should be deproclaimed as a game sanctuary. Action in this
matter was delayed because of trapping operations now taking place in
Zululand. As you also know, the trapping was at first confined to the Umfolozi
Game Reserve and was then extended, a few years ago, to the Hluhluwe Game
Reserve. I have to inform you that we are now on the point of starting a
campaign in the Mkuzi Game Reserve and the first consignment of traps will be
sent there within the next few weeks"
"In view of these operations, I wish to recommend
that no deproclamation of the Mkuzi Game Reserve should be gazetted for the
present. We have found, in the course of our work in other reserves, that it
is a great advantage to concentrate the game in as small an area as possible
and then to undertake the trapping in that area. In this way the maximum
number of flies is caught and the whole campaign is greatly benefited thereby.
In Mkuzi it will also be our endeavour to concentrate the game in the reserve
and to start trapping operations in the vicinity of the game. You will realize
therefore that it would serve no useful purpose to deproclaim the reserve at
present; on the contrary, it may hamper our operations very materially".
"It would seem to me best if, for the present, the
complete control of the Mkuzi Reserve could be vested in officers of this
Division. We would undertake not to destroy the game, but rather to
concentrate it within the reserve. It may of course be necessary to shoot a
few animals now and again for rations for the natives but on the whole you may
take it that the game would be preserved rather than destroyed. Should it be
your wish, we could also undertake to supervise the game guards of your
Administration who are still in the Mkuzi Reserve".
"I should be grateful to learn whether your
Administration concurs in the suggestions made in this minute?"
The Natal Provincial Administration agreed to fall in with the wishes of
that Department and defer the deproclamation of the reserve during the fly
operations and deproclamation was shelved whilst the anti-Nagana operations
were in progress. The anti-Nagana campaign was successful and the tsetse fly
had again played an important role in this drama.
Following the Natal Parks Board's resumption of control of the reserve in
1953, the question of the deproclamation of the reserve refused to go away.
For the almost 50 years that the reserve had been in existence, pressure had
been put on the Administration to do away with the reserve because of Nagana.
By 1955 the tsetse fly had been eliminated and Nagana was a thing of the past.
This had been achieved, not by shooting the game, but by the aerial spraying
of DDT over the reserve. The critics of the reserve were still not appeased
however and new arguments for deproclamation now emerged.
For some years prior to 1960, the construction of a dam on the Pongola
River, with the idea in mind of opening up the Makatini Flats for agricultural
purposes, had been mooted. By 1955, plans were well advanced for the
construction of the dam and the planned irrigation of the Flats, which would
include a considerable portion of the Ndumu Game Reserve. In 1955, various
proposals were submitted, one of which was that both Mkhuze and Ndumu be made
available for agricultural purposes. The deproclamation of these two reserves
was to be in exchange for the Corridor, (less 10 000 hectares for possible
Coloured settlement) that would link the Umfolozi and Hluhluwe Game Reserves.
In June 1956, the Regional Representative of the Department of Lands advised
that land taken up by the Mkhuze Game Reserve now formed a most important link
in the extensive irrigation scheme contemplated for the new dam. Calls were
again made to do away with the reserve. Engineers working on the design of the
dam had calculated that practically the whole of Mkhuze could be irrigated
from one of the main canals of this scheme. It was felt that the viability of
the dam would be seriously prejudiced should the game reserve not become
available for the central government's purposes. It was further pointed out
that, following the anti-Nagana campaign; no specific reasons had been
presented by the Natal authorities to warrant the retention of the area as a
game reserve. It was argued that, even if there were sound reasons for the
retention of Mkhuze as a reserve, the importance of the new irrigation scheme
outweighed all other considerations. The Administration's argument, that one
of the main reasons for the retention of the area as a game reserve, was that
it was the home of large numbers of the relatively rare inyala, was dismissed
by the Lands Department. Their counter-argument was that there were
considerable numbers of these antelope to be found in the Hluhluwe Game
Reserve. The handing over of Mkhuze would therefore not jepodise the situation
as far as the inyala were concerned, for the survival of this species would
appear to be assured.
In November 1957, yet another Inter-departmental committee was appointed
to investigate the boundaries of the Zululand game reserves. The report issued
on 21 August 1959 was more positive towards the future of the reserves than
earlier ones had been. Amongst the recommendations, which it contained, was
the one that stated that approval in principal be granted for the inclusion of
a large section of the Corridor into the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve
complex and that the Mkhuze Game Reserve retain its status. A rider was added
that, should the land be required for some other purpose, the Administration
must be prepared to have the position reviewed. The Natal Executive Committee
accepted these recommendations on 4 September 1959.
Nyala at Msinga Pan
Any feeling of achievement on what initially appeared to be a degree of
progress by the Natal Administration in their efforts to retain Mkhuze was to
be short-lived. On 26 March 1960, less than seven months after the Executive
Committee had accepted the recommendations of the Inter-Departmental
Committee's report, another bombshell fell. The Secretary for Agricultural
Technical Services advised ExCo that negotiations should be entered into to
discuss the exchange of the Mkhuze Game Reserve for land in the Corridor, on
an acre for acre basis. This announcement preceded my arrival in Mkhuze in
November 1960 and I well remember the degree of despondency it caused amongst
the staff of the reserve; but worse was still to come!
Discussions were held on 21 July 1961 between the Minister of Bantu
Administration, the Minister of Lands and a contingent from Natal consisting
of Messrs. D.E. Mitchell M.P., E.J.V. Grantham, the M.E.C in charge of the
Natal Parks Board's Affairs and Colonel Jack Vincent, the Board's Director.
The Administration issued a statement to the effect that it was prepared to
deproclaim Mkhuze and relinquish it to unfettered state control, in return for
the addition of certain sections of the Corridor to the Umfolozi Game Reserve.
The only glimmer of hope was the Executive Committee's stipulation that
Mkhuze was to remain a proclaimed game reserve and that the Board would
exercise full control over it, until such time as the Government indicated its
wish to take over the whole or part of the reserve. When that time arrived,
the whole reserve, or the required section only, would be deproclaimed. When
that decision was taken, finality had still not been reached regarding the
future use of the waters of the J.G. Strydom Dam (as it was then known) at
Jozini.
Much to the relief of all of
us in the reserve (and, of course, to the thousands of other people concerned
with the future of the reserve), the Minister of Lands confirmed in January
1962 that the government had no immediate plans for the use of the reserve. He
confirmed too that the Board would continue to exercise its normal control
over the land and that matters would continue, as before - the sword hanging
over our heads had not been removed, merely re-positioned!
At a meeting held on 18 July 1962, it had been agreed that Mkhuze would
be exchanged for portions of State-owned land at Fuleni and Okuku, as
extensions to the Umfolozi Game Reserve and a portion of the Corridor, as an
extension to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve. At the time the Department of Water
Affairs anticipated that approximately 4800 hectares of Mkhuze could be placed
under irrigation from the Jozini Dam. As a result of vacillation regarding the
future use of the dam, uncertainty developed regarding the agricultural
pattern that should follow for Mkhuze, the Nxwala State Land and the farms
east of Mkhuze. The fortunate result of this delay was that the Board was
never formally requested to surrender the game reserve for agricultural uses.
The Natal Provincial Administration and the Board were by no means alone
in their efforts to save Mkhuze and prevent the deproclamation of the reserve.
There were numerous public protests from interested individuals and
organizations, locally and abroad, against the deproclamation of the reserve.
These had started to make an appearance even before the commencement of the
Nagana campaign, when the early abolition of the reserve was proposed. In 1962
a vigorous campaign was instigated by the Wild Life Protection Society, to
draw public attention to the plight of the reserve. More than 50 000
signatures were collected on its "Save Mkuzi" petition, all of which
were sent to the government. To back up the petition, Mr Ian Hepburn, an
amateur film producer and later member of the Natal Parks Board, produced and
donated a film on the Mkhuze Game Reserve that was widely circulated and seen
by thousands of viewers. The
petition itself was of inestimable value in the battle for the retention of
the reserve, as it was launched at a time when Mkhuze was still relatively
unknown and certainly not as popular as it was later to become!
As the years moved along the urgency to develop the Makatini Flats
started to recede. A slump in the price of sugar in the late sixties and other
problems associated with the use of the dam caused the authorities to rethink
the whole question of using the Makatini Flats for agricultural purposes. In
the meantime, the various agricultural research projects that were being
conducted in the area below the dam wall continued unabated. The growing of
cotton was one of them. Experiments with the growing of this crop was one of
the first research projects to be undertaken and although cotton is grown on
the Makatini on a small scale today, extensive production of the crop
fortunately never got underway.
In 1977, a sub-committee of the Prime Minister's Co-ordinating Council
again met to consider the future utilization of the area. In particular a
letter from the Secretary of Agricultural Credit and Land Tenure was
discussed, where it was stated that the Mkhuze East Farms and Nxwala State
Lands should be allocated to agricultural uses, and not be included in any
game park. Attention was drawn to the fact that, by directive of the Cabinet,
the Mkhuze Game Reserve had already been "exchanged" for other
State-owned land, 15 years previously. In the absence of detailed information
on the agricultural potential of the area, there was no clear picture of what
exactly should be done with the land. The Division of Soil Protection and the
Department of Agricultural Technical services were instructed to undertake an
investigation into the future use of the land. If the investigating
authorities found that the land was suitable for agriculture, they were
required to indicate the number of economic farming units that it could be
divided into.
During that particular meeting, one lone voice was raised in support of
the retention of at least part of the area as a game reserve. A Council member
spoke out in support of the reserve and stressed that the area was a very big
area of land and that the requirements for wild life conservation should also
be considered during any future investigations. The Council member who made
the suggestion that a portion of the area at least, be retained as a game
reserve, is unfortunately not identified in the official memorandum of the
Council's findings that was issued on 5 August 1977. His was a brave stand in
the light of government sentiment at the time regarding the game reserve. In
retrospect all of us who love Mkhuze, mentally "doff our hat" to
this unknown supporter.
The whole question of the future of Mkhuze and the Jozini Dam was clouded
by the political and ideological considerations of the time. During the
seventies and eighties the Homelands policy of the Nationalist Government was
being formulated and this impacted on the proposed use of the dam. In line
with the new policy of self-development, the name of the dam had been quietly
changed from the J.G. Strydom Dam to the Jozini Dam.
The vacillation, which occurred regarding the future use of the dam,
worked to the benefit of the reserve and the threat of deproclamation
gradually receded during the mid-1980s.
The Wildlife Society's petition graphically demonstrated the tremendous
public interest in the reserve and this vindicated the Board's earlier
decision to vigorously pursue its programme of development, despite the
ongoing threat of deproclamation. Work on the new hutted camp, which had been
started in April 1960 and stopped in December of that year because of the
uncertainty over the future of the reserve, was resumed in April 1961. The
upgrading of the road system in the reserve and the building of additional
dams became a priority. These tasks were completed in 1961 and Bube Hide was
built the following year. Early in 1963 the campsite at the entrance gate was
laid out. Whilst the options for the future use of the dam were being
considered and reconsidered, the development of the reserve as a major tourist
attraction in Natal was quietly going ahead. As the attractions of the reserve
became better known the Board's policy of developing the reserve started to
reap its own rewards.
The reserve gradually became
very popular with both local and overseas visitors. From 1967 to 1975 the
number of visitors to the reserve more than doubled rising from 7974 to 15391
and the percentage of foreign tourists rose from 16.87% to 32.69% Mkhuze had
become a prime tourist attraction and its popularity has continued to grow
yearly.
Almost forty years after work on the Jozini dam was started, its waters
have still not been harnessed or used to any large degree. The future of the
dam today lies in the role that it will play in the Lebombo Spatial
Initiative, an ambitious project that involves the regional interests of South
Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique.
It remains to be seen though
how long it will be before the Jozini project is fully utilized for the
purpose for which it was originally constructed, and in what manner. The
presence of the dam though no longer appears to pose a threat to the future of
the Mkhuze Game Reserve. New threats to the continued existence of the
reserve, in the form of land restitution claims, have already started emerging
and more will, no doubt, follow in the future. For the time being at least,
the spectre of the deproclamation and disappearance of the reserve, appears to
have receded.