Fate of Polokwane’s rhinos a matter of tight secrecy
When the rhinos were initially taken from the game reserve in 2017, the municipality indicated that the relocation of the animals would be a temporary measure.
POLOKWANE – A cloud of secrecy covers the fate of the city’s rhino population after the municipality responded to a request for information regarding the whereabouts of the animals and related costs and the municipality’s plans by only confirming that the rhinos are still kept in a safe private reserve until security at the game reserve is upgraded.
Spokesperson for the municipality, Thipa Selala said that no further information will be disclosed for reasons of security.
Read more: Rhinos temporarily moved from Polokwane Nature Reserve to sanctuary
This comes after an undisclosed number of animals from the Polokwane Game Reserve were sold during an on-line auction on 1 March and were thereafter captured and removed by the new owners.
Five rhinos were relocated to a secret location near Bela-Bela in 2017 and during the previous financial year, the municipality spent more than R60 000 per month, excluding additional veterinary costs, for the safeguarding of this endangered species on a private game farm near Bela-Bela.
Read more: Undecided future of Polokwane’s rhinos still a burden to taxpayers
“The collective value of the dehorned animals is currently only about R1,2 million 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.
When the rhinos were initially taken from the game reserve, the municipality indicated that the relocation of the animals would be a temporary measure, allowing for upgrades to be done to the security at the game reserve.
The plan was to eventually reintroduce the animals into a five hectares enclosure.
It is now five years later and it appears that there are still no upgrades conducted although the municipality has budgeted R1m for the reinforcement of the perimeter fence during the 2018/19 financial year. The following years had no budget for this purpose.
The options to sell or donate the rhinos were raised, but Selala reckoned earlier that the rhinos have to come back to Polokwane as part of enhancing the city’s 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.
