Undecided future of Polokwane’s rhinos still a burden to taxpayers

POLOKWANE – The fate of the rhinos owned by Polokwane Municipality that were relocated to a secret location near Bela-Bela in 2017 is still undecided although the local authority still spends approximately R60 000 per month, excluding additional veterinary costs, for the safeguarding of this endangered species on a private game farm.

The current contract expired late last year and the municipality invited tenders for the keeping of the rhinos for a further three years and although the bids closed on November 9 last year, no decision on the matter has been taken as yet.

The collective value of the dehorned animals is currently only about R1.2m and to spend close to R800 000 per year on the safeguarding of the animals at a venue that is not even accessible to the city’s residents and visitors is tantamount to fruitless and wasteful expenditure, a prominent local game farmer pointed out and added that spending money on such a luxury while residents are suffering from lack of basic services and upkeep of infrastructure is totally out of kilter with the municipality’s core function.

There were initially five animals relocated and four calves have joined the family after relocation.

According to DA councillor in the Polokwane Municipality, Tiny Chidi, council resolved that the relocation of the animals would be a temporary measure, allowing for upgrades to be done to the security at the game reserve.

“It is now five years later and there are still no upgrades conducted. In the 2018/19 financial year the municipality budgeted an amount of R1m for the reinforcement of the perimeter fence. The following years had no budget,” Chidi said and added that the plan was to eventually reintroduce the animals into a five hectare enclosure.

Chidi claims that the appointment of the sanctuary was not done by following relevant supply chain management processes.

“This was done by way of deviation due to the emerging threat at that stage and the scourge of rhino poaching that resulted in the loss of one rhino during 2017,” Chidi said and added that the DA has spoken to stakeholders in wildlife management and the advice was that even if the municipality can safely reintroduce these rhinos at its reserve, safety concerns will still remain.

“Since the municipality has no budget to address the security concerns to safely return the rhinos to their home and the residents currently do not benefit from the ownership, we call upon the municipality to sell the rhinos by means of auction or donate them to another reserve. This will save the municipality money on a monthly basis and generate some revenue to use towards improvements at the game reserve,” Chidi reckoned.

Polokwane Municipality spokesperson Thipa Selala confirmed that the municipality is still spending around R59 000 per month for the rhinos.

“The rhinos have to come back to Polokwane also as part of enhancing our tourism attraction. The municipality is working on intensifying security measures before they come back. The rhinos need intensified protection as they are also targeted and a vulnerable species,” Selala explained.