Back to Index

South Africans on hunting spree in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF)
October 20, 2003

On Friday morning we received an appeal for help from Patty Bristow who has a game ranch in the Beit Bridge area. Patty informed us that the infamous South African hunting duo, the Van Zyls, who are wanted by the police in connection with the killing of a rhino, had set up camp on her land, and were planning to hunt there. The Van Zyls claimed to be in possession of valid hunting permits from National Parks and also said they had permission from the District Assistant. Presumably they had purchased the hunt from the resident A2 settlers/war vets.

Patty reported the matter to the police and National Parks on Thursday and after getting no response from them, called Ken Goosen who contacted us. We phoned Mike Clark who wasted no time in getting on to the Beit Bridge Police. They, together with National Parks went to the Bristow's ranch and managed to arrested the settlers. Unfortunately, the Van Zyls themselves and the DA who was also involved, managed to escape but authorities in both Zimbabwe and South Africa have been alerted and are on the lookout for them. It is not clear whether the response of the Police and National Parks was due to Mike's phone call or a delayed reaction to Patty's calls on Thursday.

At about 7 o'clock on Friday evening, Patty phoned us from the police station to say that all the detainees had been released because the police couldn't find evidence of any wrong doing. The settlers wouldn't have tolerated the Van Zyl's presence on the property unless money had changed hands and the police are well aware of this. It is also quite strange that they didn't respond to Patty's initial report when they have led us to believe that they have been on the lookout for the Van Zyls for some time. So it seems like we are back to square one.

Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force

Visit the ZCTF fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP