African Wildlife & Environment Issue 79

GENERAL

to combine my love of wildlife and my business experience was immensely appealing. However, in the series of appointment interviews it soon became apparent that the Society was facing serious problems. It was in deep financial trouble, it was riven with internal politics and petty intrigue, and the all-important magazine was nine months behind its publication date. Advertisers were withdrawing support while members were cancelling. As soon as I settled in the job I set a series of objectives to correct these problems. The staff supported an incredible work regime and weekends and holidays were forgotten and membership recruitment and fundraising campaigns were vigorously pursued. We placed mail order catalogues in the magazine, we sold calendars and diaries and members sold raffle tickets. (Yes, we sent books of tickets worth R25 to 20 000 members. Almost everyone sent back the money or the unsold tickets – very few pinched the money.) Jo Tanner (now Meintjes) joined as marketing manager and opened a retail store in Rosebank and a Wildlife Travel Agency. We computerised the membership records and introduced basic management systems, staff policies and budgets. By the end of the first financial year, revenue had increased by 70%. We were out of debt and membership had risen to over 22 000. To combat the internal politicking, I visited all the branches as often as I could. These were fantastic experiences and I met some wonderful people doing amazing work. I tracked aardwolf outside Kimberley, I watched rock-jumpers in the Cape and blue swallows in Barberton. Everyone I met was incredibly hospitable and enthusiastic and the Natal Branch was especially active and successful having initiated the critically important environmental education programme. Soon after I joined Head Office, they appointed Malcolm Powell to head up the education programme. He was an exceptionally good director and, together with the Umgeni team, he created one of the leading environmental schools in the country. Keith Cooper, Director of Conservation, was also based in Natal and was doing excellent work for which he was later awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of KZN. The visits were successful in renewing strong bonds between branches and Head Office, and between the branches themselves. To sustain communication and suppress

rumour-mongering I introduced monthly reports to all branch chairmen in which we reported everything – successes and failures – and nipped rumours in the bud. The last remaining hurdle was the African Wildlife magazine. The editor John Comrie Greig, a fiery red- headed Scot, combined a highly qualified zoologist with his remarkable writing talent. But he was also a perfectionist and wrote almost the whole magazine himself, then had it peer-reviewed and refused to send it to the printers until he was certain of its perfection.This meant that every edition was late. He and I had enormous arguments trying to get a perfect but punctual publication and at one stage he resigned only to return in a huff a week later. We employed an assistant editor to help him but the two did not get on. We had a bumper edition – two magazines combined into one – to help recover the backlog. We asked the past editor, Creina Bond to produce an independent edition to fill the gap but tragically her husband was murdered in the middle of this and she was unable to continue. Then we put out a ‘Best of AfricanWildlife’ that simply combined a selection of old articles and required no editing.Then, at last, came Sandie Anderson. She worked miracles in getting John to publish on time and, for the first time in ages, members received the magazine on the date of publication. The job of Executive Director was exhilarating but very stressful. I decided that, once we had met all of the objectives we had set in 1983 and the Society was back on its financial and managerial feet, I would move on. That point arrived in 1985 and I left to find other ways of contributing to the critically important necessity of conserving natural ecosystems. For many years after that I lost touch with WESSA but I have never forgotten the important lessons I learned and the wonderful people I met during my two and a half years in the organisation.

Vincent Carruthers vcms@mweb.co.za

5 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 79 (2021)