Beyond boundaries: A history of Gauteng's Dinokeng Game Reserve as public-private partnership and conservation initiative, 1995-2018

Abstract

Dinokeng Big 5 Game Reserve (DGR), east of the N1 Hammanskraal off-ramp, and 43 km north of Pretoria, was established in the impoverished northeastern quadrant of Gauteng in 2011 as a provincial government, Blue IQ spatial project. By 2018, a full complement of the Big 5 animals had been re-established where they once roamed naturally. The appropriateness of this study within environmental history and boundary studies is explored. The reason for DGR's development was to improve socio-economic conditions through employment opportunities in ecotourism and conservation. In the mid-1990s, Gauteng conservation officials envisioned a large wildlife haven in the region and had hoped to link up existing reserves and conservancies, both state and private, across Gauteng's provincial boundary into Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Inevitably this would require discussions and negotiations over the finalisation of boundaries in a fragmented landscape. There is little alignment between the current boundaries and those originally envisaged as the current ones enclose a much smaller area than desired. The game reserve landscape architects and planners were imbued with the ideals of linking conservancies for the greater good of conservation. Therefore, they went to great lengths to persuade landowners to contribute their land to extend the reserve boundaries to the north, south, and east. They took their cue from such game reserve models as Vhembe and Atherstone, while planning to compete commercially against more distant and larger reserves such as Kruger National Park and Pilanesberg Game Reserve. The Gauteng Provincial Government planned to implement the game reserve as a public-private partnership, which is what it is today. Many obstacles arose, including from landowners, peripheral communities and, at times, a dilatory provincial government itself. Some landowners, asked to contribute their land to a trans-provincial game reserve by government conservation officials of the newly elected ANC government, were apprehensive. The prevailing zeitgeist of suspicion stemmed from uncertainty about land expropriation in South Africa, particularly as the neighbouring Zimbabwean ZANU government's post-independence expropriation programme had quickly transmogrified into violent, opportunistic, and chaotic land grabs to which the ZANU government eventually capitulated. The DGR, its boundaries now encompassing 19 500 ha, was initially planned to incorporate a larger area of over 200 000 ha. Reasons are explored for this not being achieved. Several feasibility studies confirmed ecotourism as the most worthwhile land use for regional benefits. Despite the reserve's diminished size, Dr P. (Trish) Hanekom, former CEO of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and Dinokeng Projects, credited "...the cooperation of communities and land owners, politicians and bureaucrats, scientists and experts, inspired planners and meticulous administrators" for its materialisation.2 It is argued here that the game reserve model, based on wildlife ecotourism, has successfully contributed to the region's socio-economic upliftment, thanks to the establishment of a legitimate Community Trust. Evidence is provided to counter the arguably overly harsh socio-economic assessments of DGR's success. Research revealed a history of altruistic efforts by DGR management, the corporate world, NGOs, provincial government, and private landowners to improve the economy and eco-health of communities on the periphery of DGR. The reserve's official opening was, as argued in this thesis, the culmination of approximately 16 years of protracted, broad-based consultation between the Gauteng Provincial Government, landowners, and northeast Gauteng communities. Attention is paid to examining the changing patterns of land use in the region from the mid-19th century until the present. There is a tradition of scientific research in the region and efforts have been made to record these and to assess their global relevance. As the reserve's boundaries depend on the addition or withdrawal of land, it is hoped that the granting of Protected Area Status, as applied for by Dinokeng Game Reserve Management in 2023, will encourage further expansion so necessary for conservation, biodiversity, and the general socio-economic health of the region.