• Our History

    Every successful achievement depends on a community of people working together.

    Grasses and Flowers Walk in the Crocodile River Reserve 1920x880

Our Evolution

Welcome to a unique and special place – the first example in Gauteng of landowners joining together to keep an area pristine for our future generations.

The Crocodile River Reserve resides in the area from east to west between the R512 and R511 roads, the Schurveberg in the North and from the Northern Farm Reserve to the South.

The geographical area falls in the buffer zone of the UNESCO Magaliesberg Biosphere, is demarcated as a “green” zone in the Tshwane Regional Spatial Development Framework and the Gauteng Conservation Plan categorises it as a critical biodiversity area (important and irreplaceable).

A long journey has been travelled to reach a point of being granted Nature Reserve status.  The Crocodile River Reserve consists of 5 clusters, with many landowners who are Members of the Grassland Stewardship Alliance. The Alliance works towards the preservation of the biodiversity of the whole area.  It must be emphasised that it is not only the Members of the Reserve who have a responsibility, but all who reside in our community.

In fact there have been many firsts in the journey. It all started some time ago, in 1986 when the Transvaal Provincial Administration earmarked Hills and Dales for a low-cost housing scheme. The Greenbelt Action Group was hastily created and ensuing negotiations led to the proposal being withdrawn. In 1987 the Kareebosrand Conservancy (the first Conservancy in what is now Gauteng) was established, consisting largely of Hills and Dales and Roodekrans.

To keep the area’s natural environment intact, the Conservancy managed to stop two mining houses from acquiring mineral rights for mining, as well as a proposed development of +- 24000 houses all over Hills and Dales.

At this time – the mid-1990s – the Rhenosterspruit Nature Reserve was planned; a huge area was fenced with the goal of bringing in game but sadly their formal application to Gauteng was rejected twice and afterwards two smaller game reserves were created – The Roodekrans Game Reserve and the Oori. In 2004 the Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy, covering a wider area that now constitutes the Crocodile River Reserve, was registered with the Gauteng Conservancy Association.

At the 2007 Annual General Meeting of the Conservancy the question of becoming a Nature Reserve was raised.  A proclaimed Nature Reserve falls under South Africa’s environmental legislation and therefore a legal entity with much stronger powers to protect than the status of Conservancy.

At the meeting a very dedicated landowner committed to conservation decided to take on, as a personal project, the challenge of exploring the feasibility of Nature Reserve status. She identified certain legislation regarding National Biodiversity and the opportunity to establish Stewardship Programmes as public/private partnerships.  This would take us in the right direction on the road to getting Nature Reserve status.

In 2009 “offset” land consisting of several portions in the Doornrandje farm (known by residents as the EGG) were purchased by developers and donated to the Provincial Government specifically for the purpose of conservation as compensation for a large tract of land in Kyalami where the biodiversity would be completely destroyed by a mass housing development. Having this asset in the area, fully protected in the Title, gave an opportunity to present the Conservancy as an area well worthy of consideration for a Stewardship Alliance.

The Grassland Stewardship Alliance, a registered Not for Profit Organisation (NPO), was born.

After a great deal of hard work and determination by our current Chairperson, who had volunteered at the AGM in 2007, together with some of those brave people who had started the very first battle way back in 1986 and like-minded residents, we were granted Nature Reserve status in 2017 and given the green light for the establishment of the Crocodile River Reserve.

Our human history in and around the Reserve is just as remarkable as the journey to the establishment of a Nature Reserve. The discovery of man-made tools proves our existence goes back as far as the early stone age (2.5 Million years ago), moves on to the Middle and Late Stone age and then the early and late iron age (1300 – 1500AD). It boasts the passing through of important historical characters such as Mzilikazi with the Khumalo tribe fleeing the wrath of Shaka Zulu, and critical events that shaped the entire history of our Country like the Anglo Boer War (Battle of Kalkheuwel June 1900), the discovery of gold and the apartheid era (Daisy Farm).  The environmental legislation that has been promulgated since 1994 has given the platform for protection of critical biodiverse areas such as the Crocodile River Reserve

Categories

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Community Members

Useful Contacts

ENVIRONMENT 

Green Scorpions:

www.environment.gov.za
Environmental Crimes Hotline: 0800 205 005

GDARD Environmental Enforcement:

Fanie Masango
Fanie.masango@gauteng.gov.za
079 100 0999

SECURITY

SAPS: 10111 (say you are in Erasmia Sector 2)

Doornrandje Sector Policing Forum (SPF)

Peter Kobue: Chairman
Peter.kobue@gmail.com    082 802 6362

Francis Gomes: Vice Chairperson

fgomes@francistransport.co.za
083 260 5650

Gillian Laing: Treasurer
giantgillian@gmail.com
072 101 7052

FIRE

Doornrandje Cluster – Fire Protection Association (FPA)

Howard Bichard: Fire Chief
bicherho@mweb.co.za
072 552 1710

Carol-Lee Fowler: FPA Administrator
Carol-lee@telkomsa.net
082 256 2470

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