Kruger2Canyons.com

BUSHBUCKRIDGE- A stray rhino was rescued on Tuesday from villagers who wanted to kill it for its meat.

Rangers from the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency rescued the rhino in Cunningmore village in Limpopo.

One resident, Velly Mnisi, 33, said he was on his way to work about 07h00 when the rhino came charging towards him and broke through the fence of a mealie field and destroyed crops.

Mnisi said he ran for his life and shouted at other villagers, telling them to flee. But residents, including school children, later banded together and chased the rhino.

Mnisi said: "They were shouting: Kill it! Kill it! It destroyed our crops. We want its meat!"

He said the villagers began throwing stones at the rhino and waving hoes, axes, pangas, sticks and jungles knives.

Animal not harmed

Mnisi said another local resident, Richard Khosa, 46, contacted police, who alerted game rangers.

Mpumalanga tourism and parks agency (MTPA) spokesperson Jimmy Masombuka confirmed on Thursday that rangers had removed a white rhino from the area after anaesthetising it.

"I don't have all the details with me, but the animal was not harmed. It was taken to one of our parks."

Masombuka said officials had not established where the rhino had escaped.

"There was speculation that it was from the Kruger National Park because of its proximity to the area, but we are not sure," he said.

Kruger Park spokesperson William Mabaso said: "I am told that we were not directly involved, but one of our investigators contacted the MTPA which removed the animal."

Labels: acornhoek, bushbuckridge, escaped animals, poaching, rhinos

HOEDSPRUIT- A group of ten educational volunteers has recently arrived in Hoedspruit from the United States, the UK and Australia. Employed by the local not-for-profit organisation Amazwi (meaning “voices” in Zulu) the volunteers bring experience in writing, editing, publishing, photography, public relations, and marketing.



The organisation was established by Maggie Messitt in 2004, and will open a School of Media Arts (SOMA) in March 2007. SOMA will offer an adult certificate program with training in narrative journalism to unemployed women from Acornhoek and other local communities.

Several of the volunteers will also participate in the Amazwi Writers & Artists Residency Program, while others will spend their time in Hoedspruit establishing "A. Magazine"- Africa’s first non-fiction literary journal.

Amazwi was recently awarded a grant from the Lonely Planet Foundation, part of the world’s largest travel information company. The grant money, equivalent to approximately US$15,000 or 105,000 ZAR, will be used to establish a regional narrative-form newspaper. This publication will serve as the cornerstone of curricula for Amazwi’s School of Media Arts (SOMA).


Amazwi volunteers enjoy a traditional meal in Rooiboklaagte, a section of Acornhoek, during a community tour.

Messitt and her volunteers have moved into their new offices in Hoedspruit. In addition to headquartering the South African/U.S. organization’s operations, this space will also host the first class of the Amazwi School of Media Arts (SOMA). Amazwi’s offices are located at Hoedspruit Crossing, next to Imagine Africa Safaris.


Thoko Makwakwa, sangoma (traditional healer) and local tavern owner, teaches Amazwi volunteers about throwing the bones. Photo by Sheri Booker.

For more information on Amazwi, please visit their Web site: www.amazwi.org.

Labels: acornhoek, bushbuckridge, development, hoedspruit