Your Voice, Our Mission

In a decisive victory for the wildlife ranching industry, the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, made an order reviewing and setting aside a series of restrictive conditions that had been unlawfully inserted by the Gauteng Department of Social Development, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment into exemption permits issued under section 47 of the Nature Conservation Ordinance No 12 of 1983.

*What was ordered*

The Court has reviewed and set aside the policy and/or conduct of the Department to impose the following conditions in exemption permits (Gauteng’s equivalent of a certificate of adequate enclosure):

1. Conditions declaring species of game as so-called “extra-limital” to the Gauteng Province;

2. Conditions imposing an obligation on permit holders to phase out, and/or prohibiting the introduction of, species declared “extra-limital”;

3. Conditions imposing an obligation to apply for an intensive breeding permit; and

4. Conditions imposing an obligation to submit a so-called “ecological management plan”.

*Practical implication for Gauteng wildlife ranchers*

• Existing permit holders with valid section 47 exemption permits as of 8 May 2026 are, for the duration of those permits, exempt from compliance with the four categories of conditions set out above.

• All other permit conditions remain in force for the duration of the relevant permit. Members must continue to comply with those conditions.

• The respondents’ powers to issue exemption permits and to attach lawful conditions in terms of the Ordinance are not taken away by the Order. The judgment is targeted at the four categories of unlawful conditions, not at the permitting regime as a whole.

• Members are encouraged to review their current permits and contact the WRSA office should they have any queries about how the Order applies to their specific situation.

*National call to action*

WRSA encourages all members throughout the country to review their certificate of adequate enclosure or P3 exemption permits and notify us of any arbitrary conditions that have been imposed on new permits.

Please contact WRSA (www.wrsa.co.za) should you require assistance or clarification.

WRSA has issued a press release in response to Minister Dion George’s misleading statement on CITES export quotas for Elephant, Black Rhino and Leopard hunting trophies.

ALL CHARGES DROPPED: COURT CONFIRMS NO EVIDENCE AGAINST SOUTH  AFRICAN RHINO CONSERVATIONIST DEREK LEWITTON

Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA) strongly condemns the severe animal  cruelty revealed in the NSPCA’s 26 March 2025 report on a tiger breeding  facility in Klerksdorp. The report, based on an inspection conducted on 24  January 2025, exposes shocking neglect and suffering of animals.

The True Green Alliance (TGA) is gravely concerned about reports of widespread  ecological degradation and the devastating loss of wildlife, particularly elephants, in the  Madikwe Game Reserve, North West Province