|
Agent: Rudie Swanepoel. Tel Nr: +27823533448. E-mail: corporate@gamefarmestates.co.za alternatively srj@netactive.co.za
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. The Game Ranch
1. Location
2. Description
3. Flora & Fauna
4. Operations
5. Land Claims
6. Servitude
7. Services
8. Infrastructure
9. Neighbours
10. Mineral Exploration
II. The Bush Lodge
1. Location
2. Description
III. The game farm
1. Game farming
2. Hunting
IV. Valuation and Opportunities
1. Valuation
2. Opportunities
3. Selling Price
I. THE GAME RANCH
1. LOCATION
The property lies in the northern most area of the Limpopo Province of South Africa, in the valley of the Limpopo River, about 6,5 km south of the river. The Northern side of the river is Zimbabwe and the Eastern corner of Botswana is 10 km to the north west of the property. The land is adjacent to the Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Landscape, about 5 km from the entrance to the park. It is also in the area of the proposed Greater Mapungubwe Trans Frontier Conservation Area, for which the Treaty between the three countries – Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa - is due to be signed this year. It is planned to incorporate this game ranch into the GMTFCA in the second phase.
The closest town is Musina, about 75 km to the East. The main access road is tar which is a good quality tarred road in both directions. The Kruger National Park is about 200 km to the East, and Johannesburg is about 525 km to the South.
2. DESCRIPTION
The property is 5851 hectares in size, and has roughly a square shape, being 9 km from North to South and about 8 km from West to East across the middle of the property.
The property is generally flat with a few ridges and rock outcrops. The lowest point of the property, 516 m above sea level, is where a River, which runs through the northern end of the property, exits the property on the Northern boundary, and the highest point, 633 m above sea level, is in the South East corner. The property consists of mostly level plains, sloping slightly from south to north over the whole width of the farm. The plain falls a mere 80 meters in 9 km to the River course. There are a limited number of hills present, of which the highest is about 33 m above the plains.
The ranch is within the Mopane Bushveld classification, and is covered primarily with mopane trees and bushes. A resource inventory for the farm was completed by Envirodel Ecological and Wildlife Management Services in June 2000. This ecology report identified that the ranch is suitable only for game farming. This ecological evaluation of the property estimated that the carrying capacity of the ranch is 405 LSU (live stock units), 205 LSU for grazing and 200 LSU for browse. The recommendations of this report is available on day of visitation to the property. The Property could be subdivided into 2 portions of 850 hectares including the Lodge and all infra structure and 5000 ha which would consists of the game farming area and limited supporting infrastructure.
3. FLORA & FAUNA
The ecology report identified that the ranch falls in the Mopane Veld Type (Veld Type 15) according to Acock’s classification. The woody layer (trees and shrubs) is totally dominated by Mopane, however, many other tree species are commonly found. There are over 30 young baobabs on the property, with the largest being about 300 years old. There is sickle bush present, but no infestation caused by overgrazing. There are areas of Mopane encroachment and a project for thinning out, as recommended by the ecologist, has commenced and the results are very encouraging, with good grass growth returning. The project has been highly successful and is on-going. The nine-awned grass Enneapogon cenchroides dominates the herbaceous layer, while there is growing presence of decreaser grasses such as buffalo grass Panicum maximum, particularly in the extensive river drainage lines, indicating potential for supporting higher grazing LSUs in future. There are 46 mammal species that are either on the ranch or have been identified as having been on the ranch. Some of these species were introduced for the game farming operations, while others such as the kudu & impala occurred naturally. Some of the predators, such as leopard, wild dog and cheetah are nomadic and are not always present. Lions & elephants are occasional visitors from the National Park next door.
4. OPERATIONS
The operation of the Ranch is currently outsourced to the Farm. This includes management of the flora and fauna on the property, road maintenance, and building maintenance.
5. LAND CLAIMS
There are no known land claims on the property. In the General Notice 879 of 2006, Gazette No. 29009, in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act 1994 (Act No. 22 of 1994), as amended, the property is not included in the gazetted list of land affected by the Notice.
6. SERVITUDES
Right has been granted to Eskom to convey electricity over the property. The servitude runs along the Eastern and Southern boundary of the property. The property is one contiguous piece of land with no third party use for access, no public roads within and no internal division.
7. SERVICES
The property has the tarred road cutting across the a small portion of the Northwest corner of the property, and is the access route to the property. There is a 100kVA electricity supply to the property, and a Telkom landline goes to the main farmhouse and homestead 1. Due to the location of a cell phone mast on the property, cell phone reception is available over nearly all the property.
8. INFRASTRUCTURE
8.1 Fencing: The property is completely game fenced with a 2 meter high fence consisting of 20 wire strands at 100mm spacing. This fence complies with the requirements of the Nature Conservation Ordnance 1983, such that a P3 exemption permit has been granted to the property with validity until 31/05/2013. This fence is about 32 km long. The exemption certificate permits the hunt, catch or sale of the following species: Giraffe, eland, waterbuck, kudu, gemsbok, impala, zebra, blue wildebeest, bushbuck, steenbok, common duiker, red hartebeest.
8.2 Water System: An extensive water reticulation network is in place, consisting of 14 boreholes with water. The quality of water in all boreholes is suitable as drinking water for game. Six of these boreholes are fitted with pumps – 3 electric submersible pumps, two mono pumps driven by diesel engines and one windmill pump. These six pumps send water to 7 storage reservoirs which supply water to 14 drinking points for game and the farm and lodge infrastructure. The water reticulation system has a network of about 30 km of underground water pipes. A dam is located on the River. This dam does not hold rain water all year, and in winter water is added to the dam from a borehole to ensure there is always sufficient water for the game and birds.
8.3 Sewage System: Sewage for all infrastructure is through a number of septic tanks connected to French drains.
8.4 Roads: A network of about 110 km of farm roads exists for the purpose of management, hunting, game viewing and access to the Lodge. The roads are regularly maintained and provide access to all infrastructure, boreholes, water points, and exterior fencing.
8.5 Buildings:
8.5.1 Homes There are two homesteads and two semi-detached cottages on the farm.
Homestead 1 is built of brick under steel roof and comprises three bedrooms, one en-suite and air conditioned, a bathroom, kitchen, lounge, dining room, and office. A new air-conditioned meeting room has been built out of the two garages. The house has a veranda all around. It also has a guest wing comprising two bedrooms, both en-suite, each with its own covered deck. There is also a standalone cold room. These buildings all have Eskom electricity and a water supply. The covered area of the house is 450m²; the guest wing is 118 m²; and the cold room is 9 m². This homestead also has a swimming pool. Homestead 2 is built of brick under steel roof and comprises four bedrooms, one en-suite bathroom and air conditioned, lounge/dining room air conditioned, kitchen, storeroom and a shower room. It has a shade cloth covered area on the North and West side. It also has a small laundry and a staff house. All these buildings have Eskom electricity and a water supply. The covered area of this house is 176 m², the staff house 20 m² and the laundry 2 m². Two lodge management cottages are in the process of being constructed. These are semi-detached and will have a floor area of 175 m². The buildings are brick construction with wooden door and window frames and IBR roof. These buildings should be completed by end February 2011. These cottages will have Eskom power, solar water heating and gas stoves.
8.5.2 Farming: The following are the farm buildings:
* A workshop, office, store & toilet built of brick under steel roof covering 116 m² with Eskom electricity and water supply.
* A vehicle shelter built of steel roof on gum poles covering 12 m².
* An equipment shelter built of steel roof over gum poles covering 175 m².
* A skinning shed built of steel roof over gum poles covering 50 m².
* 6 staff houses constructed of mud walls and steel roofs, all of which have Eskom electricity and water supply
* A foreman’s house of about 68m².
* A new staff housing block for 4 senior staff of about 75 m².
* A new cold room & butchery of about 32 m².
8.5.3 Luxury Lodge: A luxury lodge comprising the following buildings:
*• 8 thatched chalets each with en-suite bathroom, private veranda and additional outdoor shower of 50 m² each
* A thatched dining room/lounge/cellar building of m².
* A thatched reception and office building of m².
* A thatched bar and lapa building of m²
* A kitchen block incorporating a kitchen, cold store, housekeeping room, water plant room and staff cloakroom of brick under steel roof of 51 m²
* A guest toilet of 12,5 m²
* A garden store of brick under steel of 10 m².
* A storage bunker of 10 m².
* A laundry/storeroom of brick under steel roof of 41 m²
*• Staff housing for 8 staff members of brick under steel incorporating four bathrooms and 4 kitchens covering 150 m²
Additional developments at the lodge include:
* A swimming pool
* A boma
* 11 carports
* bird pond.
The lodge is supplied with Eskom electricity brought to the lodge in a 2,5 km underground cable, water supply, its own drinking water plant and satellite internet & telephone.
9. NEIGHBOURS
Some of the neighbours of the property are the South African National Parks operating the Mapungubwe National Park & World Heritage Landscape
10. MINERAL EXPLORATION:
Ownership of land only gives the owner title to the surface rights. The mineral rights underneath are owned by the state, unless the rights have been granted to a mining company. Exploration for minerals can only be done when a company gets an exploration right from the state. The mineral potential of the underlying ground was explored by de Beers looking for diamond indicators such as Kimberlite pipes. We were told none had been found. Champion Diamond Mining cc via Misty Sea Trading (Pty) Limited has the right to prospect for coal below the Breslaw property (Northern section of the property). They drilled 11 holes and found coal but not of high grade and there is no drilling currently. Anglo Coal have been granted the right to prospect for coal below the Altenburg property (Southern section of the property), and have done the first lot of prospecting on the property in January & February 2010. It appears that good coal prospects have been found and Anglo Coal have announced their intention to do a scoping study on the prospects of mining the coal in the area. Any mineral rights granted are restricted to below surface activities and exclude the right to any above ground infrastructure development. Any company which has been granted a mining right to exploit the mineral resources underground will have to negotiate with the surface rights owners, if the mining company needs to do any development on the surface to facilitate the mining operations.
II. THE BUSH LODGE
1. LOCATION
This Bush Lodge is located on the northern section of The Game Ranch, about 900m from the northern boundary, and about 3 km by gravel road from the property entrance gate. It is on a southern facing slope which gives the lodge a view over most of the property to the south. There is no developments in the sight line from the lodge and at night there are no lights to be seen giving a truly African bush experience.
The lodge is the closest fully catered lodge to the main entrance to the Mapungubwe National Park & World Heritage Landscape, being only 5 km away. Our guests can go to the Park for morning activities, come back to the lodge during the middle of the day to relax, and return to the Park in the afternoon. The next closest lodge is 45km further away from the Park.
2. DESCRIPTION
This Bush Lodge has been graded as a “4 star” luxury lodge by the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa. The AA grading scheme has graded it “Superior” in the Luxury Lodge classification. The entrance leads onto a mezzanine above the spacious dining room, open to the South, and which can accommodate up to 24 guests seated at meal times. The adjacent lounge is also open to the garden and the Mopane bushveld to the South. It has a fireplace and a small library.
Meals are also served in the boma around the fire under the stars, in the boma overlooking the pool or on the lawn.
The lodge offers accommodation for 16 guests in eight twin-bedded secluded thatched en-suite chalets, each with their own veranda and additional outdoor shower. The chalets are equipped with good quality mattresses and percale cotton bed linen, kits for extra bedding, double cupboards with a safe for storing valuables, a dressing table, a large mirror over it with good lighting, a hair dryer and a laundry service. Also in each chalet is a writing shelf, easy chair and a coffee/tea station. The bathrooms are equipped with spacious showers with taps that can be turned on/off without getting wet, shelves on either side of the basin for vanity bags etc. and a large well lit mirror immediately above the basin. Each bathroom is equipped with an 110v/220v shaver socket.
A swimming pool with waterfall and martini seat is adjacent to a lapa and the bar. The lapa is thatched and open on all sides and is used for sun downers and sometimes serving meals. Next to the bar is a boma which can seat up to 24 guests around a fire under the stars. The kitchen is equipped to prepare and supply all meals to the guests. It has cold rooms and deep freezers for storage, and a dish washing machine. Also in the kitchen block is a staff cloakroom, a water plant for producing drinking water and a housekeeping store. A garden store, general store and a laundry are also at a convenient distance. There are 11 car ports for guests and staff parking. Good accommodation for 8 lodge staff includes four kitchens and four bathrooms with hot & cold running water and water borne sewerage systems. The lodge has a reception/office/curio shop building and a guest cloakroom located by the circular driveway. The lodge bar is licensed and the office has a satellite connection for Internet and telephone/fax.
III. THE GAME FARM
The Game Farm is responsible for the maintenance and development of the property, including any new buildings, as well as the maintenance of the game and the support facilities, including hunting.
1. GAME FARMING
The game on the property is owned by the one Close Corporation which is part of the whole farm. The following is an estimate of the game numbers, together with the optimal numbers as given by the ecological report
Game Numbers Estimated Stock Proposed by Ecologist
Giraffe 15 20
Eland 70 100
Waterbuck 25 25
Gemsbok 60 60
Kudu 200 200
Blue Wildebeest 60 60
Zebra 60 60
Red Hartebeest 10 60
Impala 400 300
Bushbuck 15 20
Duiker 20 -
Steenbok 15 -
Warthog 200 50
Nyala 0 20
Ostrich 5 55
2. HUNTING
This farm is a sport hunter’s dream. Its’ almost 60 square kilometres of undulating Mopane woodland is drained by a variety of streambeds and seasonal rivers and supports an impressive diversity of bushveld wildlife. The hunting is hard, challenging and nail-biting as pro-hunters and local Ndebele trackers set a frenetic pace in tracking, closing with the quarry and getting the client on to the shot. The region is famous for its monster kudu and eland. Trophies here are impressive and several farms in the district boast Rowland Ward number ones for species such as Blue Wildebeest and Cape Eland. This farm has listed record book animals in almost every one of its huntable species. Biltong or meat hunting is also on offer at this farm. This is a hunting experience like no other and is only for the serious sportsman or woman in search of adrenalin filled adventure. Predator hunting is also available on the ranch and several fine leopard, spotted hyena and black backed jackal have been hunted over the years.
A typical day starts before sunrise with fresh coffee and a light breakfast. Trackers will load packed brunch boxes and coolers filled with beverages in preparation for a long day in the field. Clients, pro-hunters and trackers move out in fully equipped hunting vehicles and begin an exciting search for the African trophy of their dreams. Animals successfully harvested are photographed, recovered, professionally skinned to the client’s specifications, labelled and salted in preparation for handover to our taxidermists. After a long day in the field, clients and pro-hunters return to the lodge. There they are accommodated in a beautiful setting with large, comfortable chalets, a swimming pool, full service bar and are served delicious cuisine from the lodge kitchen. Venison is often on the dinner menu. Sitting around a Mopane wood fire in the boma and telling the hunting stories of the day while sipping a sundowner is surely the perfect way to end another magnificent day in this truly beautiful part of wild Africa.
IV VALUATION & OPPORTUNITIES
1. VALUATION
This property is large in relative perspective to most other properties in the area. The latest sales of property in close proximity to this Game Farm are as follows:
1 Hartjiesveld, MS174, being 2124 ha was purchased on 4 December 2008 by Heinrich Holl of Polokwane for R10 475 390 at R4950 per ha.
2 Konningsmark, MS117, being 3656 ha was purchased on 6 October 2008 by Anders Runnerus of Sweden for R17 000 000 at R4650 per ha
3 Lucca, MS 54, being 2124 ha, was purchased on 2 August 2007 by Anglo Operations Ltd, for R6 179 940 at R2729 per ha.
All of these properties were game farms only with little other infrastructure. The Lucca property had one house on it and there was a land claim under the restitution of land act. The Hartjiesveld property does not have a house on it and the Konningsmark property had one house on it. Taking into consideration the recent sales of neighbouring properties, a fair valuation for This Game Farm is R4950 per ha. The lodge infrastructure of the 16 bed lodge and 18 houses for management & staff was valued at R6 500 000. This did not include the moveable assets such as motor vehicles, furniture & furnishings, equipment and stock in trade which are in the books at R1 013 740. The game on the farm is estimated R2,053,500. The total value of the property covering all fixed, moveable and operating assets is estimated at R37 359 490.
2. OPPORTUNITIES
There are a number of potential opportunities which would increase the value of the property in the future. These include:
1. Increased tourism to the area leading to higher occupancy of the lodge
2. Increased trophy hunting
3. Introduction and breeding of higher value game for live and hunting sales.
4. Implementation of the Treaty between the three countries making up the Greater Mapungubwe Trans Frontier Park & Conservation Area
5. Incorporation of this 5851 hectare farm into the Mapungubwe National Park and GMTFCA
6. Introduction of the remainder of the “big five”, by dropping fences with the National Park.
7. Reduction in the land available.
3. SELLING PRICE
Selling Price for this property is R28.mill for the whole 5851 hectares,
R11.0mill for the 850 hectares with the Lodge on it, and
R22.0mill for the remaining 5000ha game farming area.
(all the above prices excl. VAT should it be payable)
|
