Inyathi Park News June 2019

Winter is clearly here, judging by the very cold weather we are experiencing now. It is the right time to be in the veld and to enjoy a glass of your favourite red next to a cosy fire. Happy hunting to those that are enjoying this privilege.

HuntEx 2020
Some members complained that we did not inform them about the HuntEx dates in April in time. Please diarise the following dates. HuntEx 2020 is scheduled for 24 to 27 April 2020

Budget and Membership Fees
At the Board meeting on 27 June, the budget for the financial year commencing on 1 July 2019, has been approved.

Please note the following important changes:

• In future, members can choose to receive no, one, or two magazines as part of their membership benefits. The following options are available: Membership without a magazine; membership with SA Hunter; membership with Magnum; membership with both SA Hunter and Magnum. The membership fee will be adjusted according to your preference. Members receive the magazines at the 50% of the shelf price. The status quo will remain for those members that do not change their preference within the time provided.
• The Association combined the membership categories for students and adults younger than 26 years. The administrative burden of maintaining student membership and requesting proof of student registration has become too cumbersome and time-consuming. Therefore, the Board agreed to merge the student membership category with the young adult category into a new group for Young Adults between 18 and 26 years.

The following membership fee structure for the various categories will come into effect on 1 July 2019.

Conservation
International Developments and Liaison
A few interesting developments emanated from the African Wildlife Economy Summit held at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe recently. The summit was attended by the Presidents of Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia. It is significant to note that South Africa was not represented in a similar fashion. Several ministers from all over the continent were also in attendance.

At the summit, African countries took a very strong stance that they have the right to own, trade and responsibly utilise wildlife within their borders. It is about time that the African continent took this position on the responsible and sustainable use of wildlife and not to be dictated to by other countries and small interest groups from other countries.

Youth groups and local communities of 12 countries collectively issued a declaration that represents these views emphatically, namely that they have the right to own, manage and utilise natural resources and that this view should be acknowledged by international organisations. Read this excellent and meaningful declaration here.

Management of Elephants and the Lion Working Group
Lizanne Nel participated in two working group sessions on developing a national elephant management strategy for South Africa.

SA Hunters was also represented at the National Lion Working Group to promote the conservation of wild lion populations in the country and to find solutions for the challenges of lion conservation.

It is clear that SA Hunters are acknowledged for its contribution to these important conservation issues.

Lead poisoning
There is evidence of high lead content in the blood of birds of prey, blesbuck in reserves in Gauteng, and workers and shottists at indoor shooting ranges. The reasons for this are still unknown.

SA Hunters started with in-depth discussions with several stakeholders on the risks and impact of lead on nature and on hunters towards a proper understanding of the scope of this problem and finding solutions to reduce the impact of lead.

Rabies
Occasionally, rabies occurs in various areas in Zastron in the east Free State and in parts of the Western Cape. We wish to draw members’ attention to this disease and risks associated with rabies. More information is available here.

Hunting affairs
While most members have probably already hunted this season, many others are still planning their hunting. We remind members to take note of the statutory requirements with regard to hunting. A summary of the various proclamations and hunting laws is available on the website under Hunting Affairs.

Buffalo hunting competition for R50
The Mangalana tribe adjacent to the Sabie Game Park in Mozambique allocated one buffalo from their hunting quota to SA Hunters. The Sabie Game Park is located across the border with Mozambique where the Sabie River flows into Mozambique. It is easily accessible by road. The area is ideally located and boasts a relatively large buffalo population.

The Board of SA Hunters offered a second prize of a cut diamond valued at R28 000 as a second prize in this competition. The Diamant Branch of SA Hunters donated the diamond.

For a chance to win one of these prizes:
1. Transfer R50 or multiples of R50 (which gives you multiple chances) to the bank account of SA Hunters. The account is with Absa, account number 01443990077.
2. Use your mobile phone number and Buffel as the reference.

Entries for this draw closes on 31 July 2019. SA Hunters will use your mobile number to determine the lucky winner of this hunting prize. The terms and conditions of this hunting opportunity are available here.

Tiger fishing opportunity
Hunting affairs is offering a tiger fishing opportunity. For R50, members stand a chance to win a tiger fishing adventure in the Komati River at Komatipoort. The prize caters for four people. The boat, bait and a guide are included for two sessions (one session of 12 hours and one session of six hours). The boat is wheelchair friendly.

Your own transport to Komatipoort, accommodation and meals are not included in the prize. Camping facilities with ablutions, hot water and electricity are available at the site and other lodges can be found in the vicinity.
1. Transfer R50 or multiples of R50 (for more chances to win) by EFT to the bank account of SA Hunters at ABSA, account number 01443990077.
2. Use your mobile phone number and Tiger as reference.

The draw will take place on 13 August 2019.

Wild pig permits
SA Hunters provides an important service to members through the issuing of wild pig meat transport permits online. Any paid-up member that is a land-owner where wild pigs are hunted, can register his property for free on an application on the SA Hunters website to enable him to issue permits to hunters for the legal transport of wild pig meat. Registered members already issued 447 permits this year.

More information on the registration process is available at Hunting Affairs on the website. It is important to complete the entire registration process to ensure that the registration is activated. See full instructions here.

Unfortunately, some members that registered their properties did not complete the validation procedure but tried to issue permits (they did not send the required information to the national office). Remember to send the completed application forms to boetiek@sahunt.co.za for validation. Once the process is completed, members will be notified that they are authorised to issue the permits.

The Department of Agriculture requires that only registered land-owners may issue permits. Therefore, the SA Hunters national office may not issue pig meat transport permits directly to hunters.

Thanks to all members that participate in the Africa Swine Fever research project in collaboration with the faculty of veterinary science at UP. Please send all the necessary blood samples to Boetie Kirchner at Inyathi Park.

Shooting Affairs
The SA Hunters regional shooting competitions will be concluded soon and the invitations to the national competition will be sent out shortly. Once the trials for the IGRF Bolt Action shooting exercises are done and dusted, we will prepare for the national sport shooting championship and the major IGRF World Championship in South Africa in October. We wish all our shottists the best of luck in the remainder of the year’s shooting activities.

There was an error in the shooting results published in the May newsletter. Jors Humpel won a gold medal in the Limited Bolt action of the IGRF discipline held and a bronze medal in the 5785 event held at Bisley, England. Apologies for this error, Jors.

SA Hunters Celebrates 70 Years
We already told members about the various projects to celebrate SA Hunters’ 70th birthday.

SA Hunters memorial publication
The origin and history of SA Hunters has never been published. A former president of SA Hunters, Prof. Pottie Potgieter, is collecting information, documentation and photographs for a memorial publication. He welcomes any newsworthy snippets from the past and photographs. Herman Jonker is the editor and responsible for collating the book which we expect the book to be available by the end of the year.

Jewellery
The first jewellery items in the range designed and manufactured by Maryna de Klerk of M2 Jewellers are available. Photographs of the items are available here.
Each item is numbered and has a price tag. These are individual pieces with limited identical items. Anyone interested in purchasing jewellery items that feature ivory from the Nico van Rooyen collection, can phone Realda Goosen at (012) 808 9300. Please quote the number of the item you are interested in purchasing. All sales are concluded on the first order and payment received.
Please note that additional costs apply to cover courier services and insurance. An EFT deposit with references of the selected items and your name are required to secure purchase. The jewellery will be dispatched once payment has been received and processed.

Knives
A limited series of 500 knives with ivory inlays at R1000 each will be available for purchase at the end of May. These Buck pocket-knives also feature the SA Hunters logo.
Make an EFT of R1 000 in SA Hunters bank account at ABSA, account number 01443990077. Use your member number and Knipmes as reference. Send proof of payment together with your member number and contact details to Realda Goosen at realda@sahunt.co.za She will contact you.

Rifles
The Board of SA Hunters commissioned Ralph Badenhorst (jnr) to manufacture two rifles in popular calibres (7 X 57 en 9,3 X 62) to commemorate the Association’s 70th anniversary. These rifles can be won in a lucky draw.

Membership
The membership of SA Hunters is stable at 42 335 paid-up members as on 26 June 2019.
Any member of SA Hunters that recruits ten members during the year, will receive free membership for the following year. Branches are also acknowledged for recruitment and receive a portion of the membership fee over and above the branch subventions.
Carl Arnold, President of SA Hunters, set a target to increase membership with 4000 in 2019 and 2020. Help us to achieve this goal.

Dedicated Status
Members with dedicated status (both hunting and sport shooting) are reminded to report the required activities to maintain their statuses. Your status affects the firearms you are allowed to have.
7 883 of the 16 759 dedicated hunters already reported sufficient activities to retain their statuses
Only 4 170 of 10 815 dedicated sport shooters have registered sufficient activities to retain their statuses.
Please remember to list your activities on the online member administration system.

Training
SA Hunters in collaboration with the SA Wildlife College offers training in the hunting of dangerous game to members with dedicated hunter status. The scheduled training opportunities ended in June, but additional courses might be implemented later in 2019. These courses will be offered again in 2020.

Photography Competition
We remind members to participate in our annual photography competition. The finalists’ photographs can be viewed here on our website. These members will receive their certificates on their online profile.
Our sponsor (Canon SA) donated a new camera for the winner of the best photograph. The prize will be handed over to the winner during the congress gala evening at the end of the year. We are also trying to obtain more prizes for different categories.

Our categories for the 2019 competition are:
1. The Hunter (Not hunted animals): Photographs that depict a hunter, man or animal, in nature.
2. Nature Talks: Photographs from nature that talk to your soul, i.e. landscapes with extraordinary backgrounds or colours
3. Wildlife: Photographs depicting any animal life (land, bird or marine life)
4. Shooting a dedicated sport: -Photographs showing the action, dedication, gear and preparation of the sport shooting competitor

At the end of each month we select photographs to add to the portfolio that can be viewed on www.sahunters.co.za Instructions to enter the competition is available here

Commercial Affairs
We include links on our website to dealers and service providers that offer special discounts to our members. Click on the relevant links for more information.
Kilima Private Game Reserve recently joined our commercial offers with a bow hunting opportunity. More information will be added to our website and sent to members as soon us we received it.

The following providers offer benefits and discounts to SA Hunters members.

• Toyota SA
• Westvaal Nelspruit
• Wildman Hunting and Outdoor
• Hokaai Slaghuis
• Die Wildshoekie Vleismark
• LAVA Vakuumverpakking
• Selftrack
• MAINSU Kragopwekkers
• Cens Digital Gehoorbeskerming
• Uitlaatstelle van De Graaf Autosentrum in Van der Hoffweg Pretoria
• Helle-messe
• Nitecore Torches
• Fitch and Leedes
• Otterskloof
• Cassie Nienaber – Load development and reloading

Click here for more information.

Kind regards
Fred Camphor
SA Hunters: CEO