African Wildlife & Environment Issue 79

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

The Selati Game Reserve was established in 1993. The owners of the land, chiefly cattle farmers at the time, collaborated in order to draw up a constitution, remove fences and to cease any farming activity in order to dedicate the land to conservation. The combined area is 28,500 hectares and after 28 years of protection, committed custodianship and financial commitment the land constitutes a pristine wilderness area. There are currently 15 lodges on Selati, four of which are commercial lodges with a further two under development. Of these lodges, six are directly situated within the proposed

(CALS) at the University of the Witwatersrand intervened in the matter as a friend of the court, presenting evidence that the usual process for requesting this kind of information placed communities at a disadvantage and may prevent them from exercising their constitutional rights. Leaders of the Xolobeni community were refused access to the mining rights application, and they approached the High Court in line with the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). Since then, the community has been able to access redacted versions of these documents, and has used these to support a strong objection to

mining in their region. Lee-Anne Bruce reported on this, and ultimately the mining company, which had opposed the application, had to pay all the legal costs. Back to my backyard in the Selati Game Reserve, and just for context I would like to highlight what we are talking about:

Mining Right area. At present, the total number of full-time employees on Selati is 81 people, excluding contractors. The reserve is home to the 'Big Five', and is well known for its wild herds of rare Sable Antelope, an animal which was always indigenous to this area and is the logo for the reserve. The

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