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Background of the Johannesburg South Region
The 26th region of
the Honorary Rangers, the Johannesburg South Honorary Rangers
was inaugurated on 24 May 2008 at the Kruger National Park. The
region, is based in Lenasia and consists of members from the
surrounding local communities such as Lenasia, Robertsham and
Vereeniging.
Why Johannesburg
South?
SANParks requested
Honorary
Rangers
to seriously consider transformation as there was a need to
reach out to all sectors of the population with the message of
conservation as ambassadors for SANParks. It was also seen to
be necessary for the demographics of our country, balance
between different cultures and to keep all interested parties
involved and informed. This was also seen as a way to learn
about other cultures and appropriate given our country’s
rainbow-nation status. In addition, given our country’s previous
history of segregation, this was seen as a way integrating and
inviting historically disadvantaged individuals into the fold of
volunteer conservation through the Honorary Rangers system and
that our heritage is there for all to enjoy. As the outcome has
proven, many individuals have an acute interest in conservation
and wildlife and the focus was to identify them and get them to
join our movement.
How?
The vision was
born back in 2001 when Ashraf Sayed, returned to Johannesburg
with a vision to share the joys of being a SANParks volunteer.
Ashraf returned in 2001 after joining the Bushveld Honorary
Rangers in
Phalaborwa in February 1998. The mission started slowly and it
was only in April 2003 when early discussions with West Rand
Honorary Rangers re-emphasised the need to transform the
Honorary Ranger and
the importance of spreading our message. After many attempts at
painstaking individual canvassing, soon friends and family
showed an interest and finally, the first application was
received by Mahmood Carim on 16 April 2007 and by Dalton Mathuli
on 22 April 2007. In May 2007, an advertisement was placed in a
local newspaper, Southern Globe. This was done under the
guidance and stewardship of the Johannesburg Region. The
response to the advert was somewhat mediocre but sufficient to
light the path that lay ahead. On 22 May 2007, Zubair Carim and
Farouk Hassen joined. This then formed the core of what would
eventually become the 26th region of the Honorary Rangers for
Johannesburg South Region. Ashraf Sayed was elected as the 1st
Chairman of the JHB South Region from May 2008 until April 2009.
Other methods of recruitment and development of interest
included exposure to the workings of an established region, like
the Johannesburg region, and also attending public information
displays, attending of courses with applicants to nurture the
interest and to also host our own structured meetings.
Interviews with local radio stations also helped to spread the
awareness and the region recently co-hosted a Public Education
and Awareness Programme (PEAP) at the Trade Route Mall Lenasia
on 14-16 June 2008, with hundreds of people showing an interest
in Honorary Rangers. At present the Johannesburg South region
has
23
members of which 12 have been officially appointed
as
Honorary Rangers.
The rest are applicants completing the necessary courses.
SUCCESS TO DATE
•12
Appointed HR’s
•11
Applicants
•18
male members
•5
female members
100% HDI
Membership in region
Contribution to SanParks
2008 - R310 096.48
•
2009 - R238 480.24
Courses attended
|
Course |
Number of Members Completed |
|
KNP
Orientation |
17 |
|
Hospitality Theory |
23 |
|
Hospitality practical |
9 |
|
Bush
Interpretation 1 |
5 |
|
Bush
Interpretation 2 |
4 |
|
Bush
Interpretation 3 |
1 |
|
Parks Heritage 1 |
1 |
|
Other Eco Zone Orientation |
1 |
|
Other Courses |
|
|
SAPS
Reservist |
3 |
|
Registered Trail Guides |
1 |
|
Grass Identification |
1 |
|
Reptiles |
1 |
|
Tourism |
1 |
CHALLENGES
It was soon learned that some had a misconception about
Honorary Rangers
being “Rangers working in the field". However, this still had a
positive spin off in some instances and after some discussion, a
clearer picture was painted.
Logistics and
financial constraints still prove to be serious challenges.
With the focus being on sourcing historically disadvantaged
individuals, the drop out rate was medium to high, with the
main reasons being the misconception, work and personal
commitments, financial and travel constraints.
FUTURE GOALS
With a membership core of 23
including 12 appointed
Honorary Rangers,
the focus is to maintain and nurture the interest of the current
membership, sell
Honorary Rangers
by creating more public awareness, convey the message to the
schools in the hope of planting the seed of awareness, appointed
members to take ownership of news applicants, motivate course
attendance, to steadily increase the core membership to between
30 to 40 members by September 2010.
To remain committed to SANParks
Vision and Mission Statement and to align with the Vision and
Mission Statement of the
Honorary
Rangers to identify
Projects within Parks and raise the necessary funds to do so,
identify Friends of SANParks, to visit other Parks and
ultimately, to enjoy Honorary Rangers and to remember why we
joined.
FEEDBACK FROM
MEMBERS
“I
am now even more passionate about being with SANPARKS and to be
an Honorary Ranger”
“I did not realise that it took so much to
control KNP. It’s incredible. I now have a greater appreciation
for the Park and for nature”
“I’ve been coming to KNP for over 30 years.
But now I see things in a different perspective.”
Indaba - 2008
Top Left: Farouk Hassen, Moosa Vardalia, Dr Bandile Mkhize,
Faizel Essop, Ashraf Sayed
Bottom: Imraan Kaka, Mr Craig Padayachee, Dalton Mathuli, Yaseen
Bismilla, Mahmood Bhyat
WHO ARE THE HONORARY
RANGERS?
Public Volunteers in Conservation
The Honorary Rangers are a collection of
dedicated people who contribute to South African National Parks
(SANParks) in their private capacity in the same way as renowned
charity groups contribute to various other social causes. Our
contribution is manifested in many ways, such as raising
valuable funds, creating vital public awareness and supplying
much needed manpower and equipment to supplement various
conservation, tourism and environmental education needs within
SANParks. Without our assistance the parks would be so much
poorer and in some areas struggling to survive.
MISSION
To provide a dynamic, practical support structure to the South
African National Parks (SANParks).
PROFILE
Volunteers
The Honorary Rangers is a completely self-funded group of
volunteers, representative of all the people of South Africa.
Equity
Active Programmes have been implemented to promote greater
equity and representivity, especially in respect of historically
disadvantaged individuals and communities.
Resources
At no cost, the Honorary Rangers:
- Provide or commission professional expertise for specific
projects
- Organise fund raising and sponsorships for various projects
- Provide assistance with fixed duties to alleviate the
administrative burden of full-time SANParks
personnel
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