Ultimate Safaris ‘hiding behind rhinos to impoverish us’

Communities living in conservation areas in the vicinity of Khorixas, including a local chief, have slammed conservation travel company Ultimate Safaris as a ‘manipulative’ entity that is hiding behind rhino protection to stifle competing investment interests, thus exacerbating poverty among locals.

This after the company filed two court applications seeking to stop the development of an envisaged tin mine in the area and the clearing of a road leading to the site for ease of passage. Ultimate Safaris secured interim interdicts in both applications, pending full hearings.

Community activists claimed that their home has become a playground for wealthy individuals, who pay top dollar to the safari company with very little benefits reaching the local people. They added that responsible mining in the area would boost jobs and help reduce the high levels of poverty that currently grip it.

In late August, Ultimate Safaris filed an urgent application against the clearing of the road to the mining site owned by Timoteus Mashuna. The application resulted in Mashuna being interdicted from further work on the road, which he said already existed and that he was only flattening it for the smooth passage of bigger vehicles.

‘Hiding behind rhinos’

On Monday, Khorixas pensioner Leonard Hoaeb contacted Namibian Sun to complain about a social media post the newspaper published pertaining to Ultimate Safaris, the Doro-Nawas and Uibasen-Twyfelfontein conservancies and the #Aodanam Traditional Authority appearing in court to fight the projects.

“Ultimate Safaris is making millions from this area but we, the community, are getting nothing. They have 28 employees, while the mine will employ 140 employees in the first phase. Why can’t they co-exist?” he wanted to know.

“The rhinos have been here for generations and we, the people in this area, benefit nothing from them. Ultimate Safaris is hiding behind the rhinos to enrich themselves. Our people, especially those who were ferried to the court in Windhoek, are being used and it’s sad that they don’t see it. What do they get from Ultimate Safaris? Rhino protection is just window dressing to keep our people poor. I’ve lived in this area for 40 years and I don’t know of any benefits that accrued from rhinos to our people.”

“The mine will transform the lives of our people, as long as the owners do things according to the permits issued to them. Ultimate Safaris must never block development that matters to us in order to protect its own narrow benefits,” Hoaeb added.

‘Fraudulent’ application

Speaking to Namibian Sun, Mashuna said the court applications by Ultimate Safaris was a covert way to ensure only the company does business in the area.

“They have been clandestine in their dealings, including adding applicants to their court papers who did not consent to be part of their application. The Sorris Sorris conservancy was made the first applicant against me, and they demanded to be removed because they never consented to be part of that. It was a fraudulent court application,” he said.

“To make matters worse, Ultimate Safaris only organised a consultative meeting with the community after it had already gotten a court interdict against me. They went into that meeting asking people for signatures to support their affidavits after the fact. They have no respect for the community they are operating from. Everything that we are doing in that area is based on permits from the environmental commissioner and all relevant authorities,” he said.

Poaching to increase

Ultimate Safaris said Mashuna’s environmental clearance certificates failed to mention that human activity associated with mining would increase the likelihood of poaching in the area of his mining claims.

The company added that the report also failed to mention that mining operations, including the use of earthmoving equipment and blasting, would disturb the rhinos and drive them out of that area, thus affecting tourism.

To this, Mashuna said: “Ultimate Safaris uses helicopters in that area to fly in wealthy millionaires for its own benefit. Trucks can never be more disturbing to rhinos than helicopters”.

Cannot be hijacked

Speaking to Namibian Sun yesterday, Dâure Daman chief Zacharias Seibeb, who presides over the area, said he was only alerted to the court case on 28 August, during Ultimate Safaris’ community meeting when he was asked to sight affidavits in favour of further court applications.

“I am answerable to the community and I cannot just be hijacked to sign things without consulting people first. Ultimate Safaris is new in this area, but mining has been happening here since 1925. Rhinos were never an issue all along, so what is different now? I have given written consent for the operations of both Ultimate Safaris and the mining people. Why can’t they co-exist?”

According to Ultimate Safaris managing director Tristan Cowley, the concerns by community members are likely instigated by Mashuna. “Any claims suggesting that the communities are not benefitting are misplaced, and it's likely that there's poor communication between these critics and their conservancy committee. The reality is that mining operations in Damaraland have been increasing.

“The truth is that the rhinos contribute tremendous value to the conservancies. By contrast, the mining proponent has only a three-year claim in the area, and similar mining efforts in the past have displaced rhinos, causing the closure of tourism camps and a loss of income,” he said.

The Sorris Sorris conservancy has called an urgent community meeting to discuss the matter tomorrow.