Apartheid to conservation hero: Paddy Gordon’s inspiring journey

Peter “Paddy” Gordon is the physical manifestation of the phrase “the man, the myth, the legend”, according to those closest to him. He has dedicated 34 years to working for the South African National Parks (SANParks) and has managed seven parks.

He spoke to Saturday Citizen at the Golden Gate Highlands National Park.

His journey with SANParks began 1 July 1989, as an educational and community outreach officer at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Kalahari desert, moving on to the Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, where he was promoted to park manager barely six months into the job.

“Because of my love for community engagement and development, I was then moved to Mountain Zebra National Park (in the Eastern Cape), 2½ years in.

It was an exciting time because we were growing the park very quickly,” he said. “We were adding farmland, bringing in rhinos, bringing in lions.

“Recognising there’s a local community there that had no connection with the park, we had to reach out to them (about) what was in the park that was important to them.”

Having negotiated the successful integration between the community and the park, he embarked on another adventure, this one to Table Mountain.

Gordon was one of the first non-white professionals to be hired at SANParks, breaking boundaries and changing policies for coloured and black people, even earning the title of “legend” from SANParks head of communications Rey Thakhuli.

Gordon smiles and says: “I always find it hard to talk about myself, let alone speak to the media about me. But in all honesty, I wouldn’t be here today without my support system.

“I think we need to recognise what we are today is based on where we came from. And it’s a nice opportunity to honour your parents, to explain who we are today,” he said.

“I had two giants as parents. My father was a school principal, but he never stopped being a teacher, and he was always with my mother doing community development.

“I grew up with people from all walks of life … people from America, China, Europe, different parts of Asia, but also Africa and Southern Africa.

“So, I grew up in a world that was a lot bigger than the world I was born into. And I had to respond to that world.”

Growing up surrounded by people with big hearts, Gordon was bound to follow the same path as his parents.

“Nobody taught me this. No university, no sandbox, taught me that if you can make a difference, you must.

“So that was a critically important start of my life. Everything I do regarding people and community development, I learned from growing up in my house, with my parents as amazing leaders.”

His parents also had a huge respect for the environment which inspired him and fuelled his passion and love for nature.

“They did not spend their time indoors. My father recognised that he cannot teach everything in the classroom.

“He understood that at some point he had to take the kids outside to change their framework. So, I grew up spending my time on mountains,” he said.

“From a very early age, I knew I would go into conservation, even when it was not the thing for black and coloured people.

“And I’m going to speak about that because it’s part of our identity.”

Being raised during the apartheid era, Gordon’s journey was not always a walk in the park, “from primary education when there were no English schools for black and coloured people”.

“I think we are at a very emotionally mature stage, that we can speak about that without being bitter,” he said.

“But the things that happened to me because of apartheid grew me, it did not stifle me.

“I had to go to an African school. So, I was forced into another language, just as a lot of black children were. At a later age, I was able to travel to schools further away and go back to the English people,” he said.

“Now that sounds trivial, (but) the ability to switch from English to Afrikaans back to English? People suddenly listen and wonder who I am.

“When I got to university, I knew I wanted to go into conservation, but we’re talking about the 1980s when Pretoria Technikon was quite young.

“Cape Technikon was an all-white zone, Stellenbosch as well. “But I couldn’t study conservation, even though I wanted to.”

He settled for a bachelor of science degree and followed up with a teacher’s diploma, then a business management course.

“And I started a master’s degree in environmental education at Rhodes University, but moved away from that area and didn’t complete it.

“In essence, I was fortunate to have a background in science, education and business management (which only became) evident when the time came to start managing a national park. It really counted in my favour.”