Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Illegal Zimbabwe Land Seizures and Arnold Payne

From the legal Savuli Operators:

As many of you will know, a female so called War vet named Shuvai Mahofa has taken over Savuli Ranch in the Save Valley Conservancy. She claims that she has a legal lease on the property issued by the department of National Parks(who are not entitled to issue leases on Conservancy Properties) ,however the High Court of Zimbabwe has ruled ,in a number of decisions that the legal owners and operators of Savuli , namely Forever African Safaris, should continue operations on Savuli and that their operations should not be interfered with.
In contempt of these High Court decisions, Mahofa has evicted Forever African and its employees, trashed their belongings and thrown their furniture out on the road. In the meantime, Mr Ken Drummond has moved onto the property and is operating as Impala Safaris on the Property.
They are operating on a quota issued to Mahofa which has 5 lion on it. This in itself is farcical as this is more than the entire Save Conservancy quota and Savuli forms a tiny part of this . The issue of the quota itself is also in contempt of a High court determination that names Forever African as the rightful operator. Given that National Parks are withholding quotas from white operators in the Save, the handing of ridiculously high quota to an illegal operator is inexplicable and smacks of a complete disrespect for the rule of law from the upper echelons of Parks and indeed the Ministry itself. The fact that Provincial police have refused to action the terms of the High court Order supports this.
It has long been suspected that Drummond has paid Mahofa to act in his interest and secure a ranch in the Save Valley ,however the fact that he is now posting pictures of the Savuli camp and of several impressive trophies on the website of Impala Safaris Impala African Safaris which is owned and run by one Arnold Payne. A recent post by Mr Payne boasts of OUR Save valley Hunting concession and names several hunters who have taken impressive trophies on the property.
It is suspected that some of the clients who have hunted on Savuli are in fact US citizens . There is no doubt that Payne and Drummond would have assured these clients of the legalities of their hunts due to Mahofas supposed lease, however it is doubted that the High Court rulings would ever have been brought to the clients attention.
It is the intention of this post to inform any prospective client that Arnold Payne, Ken Drummond, Tikki Drummond, Impala Safaris and any agent thereof is acting completely and utterly illegally with respect to any and all of their actions on Savuli and within the Save Conservancy. This is not a legal opinion, it is the Opinion of the High Court of Zimbabwe as set down in their recent judgement.
Sadly this judgement has been totally ignored and the wholesale slaughter of animals on Savuli continues . Reports have been received that the National Parks contingent on Savuli(placed there to ensure that the whites don't poach? Provincial wardens words),have shot Sable, Nyala, Buffalo and Kudu for rations . Mahofa's brother has been seen regularly in Chiredzi and Masvingo selling game meat , in plain sight of local police who have taken no action.
The LEGAL owners of Savuli, The Legal operators and all of the Friends of this wonderful and very special place have vowed to keep fighting to regain control of Savuli .
I ask that this information is placed on as many Hunting and Information Forums as possible by anyone who feels , as we do, that an injustice has been done and that action needs to be taken.


This is truly sad. Anybody who participates in these illegal hunts should be ashamed.

Not to mention illegal. Possible Lacy Act violation?

Zimbabwe is still a wonderful country for safari. There are still good operators in good areas. With the internet and hunting forums that bad and illegal ones are easy to weed out.

As long as the good guys are still operating in Zim I will continue to support them. Without the good operators the wildlife is doomed.

Remember everytime we book with operators on stolen property, operators working with Zimbabweans on the US banned list, book with operators using foreign unlicensed PHs, drive in from South Africa and hunt in a SA licensed hunting vehicle with an unlicensed PH, hunt areas like Gwaii, Hwange, or Matetsi 6 we are contributing to the problem.

SUPPORT THE REMAINING GOOD OPERATORS. PUT THE REST OUT OF BUSINESS.

schuduled for the save in oct.
1st trip, this is not the way
I hoped to "go to Africa"

Raven,

Who are you booked with in the Save?

terry anders

The legitimate Zim operators are good at "making a plan".

I am sure Terry is/will do everything in his power to take care of his clients.

Good luck.

I'm wondering how the trophies are legally exported to the US then?

I am fully supportive of getting rid of illegal operators in any country.

As with other things, not everything is legally exported and there is list of hunters who never receive their trophies.

Is not every situation I listed illegal in Zim?

So, if you don't want to support illegal operators, how are you to know who is legal and who is illegal? There is a LONG, LONG list of Zimbabwe names U. S. citizens aren't supposed to do business with and it changes all the time. I would never go there just because of that.

I do feel sorry for the legal operators but I have little doubt that all white legal operators will be evicted at some point unless there is some type of crises that puts more ethical (if there is such a thing) politicians in power. I also feel sorry for the animals but sadly the situation in Zimbabwe will probably have to get quite a bit worse before it gets better.

Yes everything you listed above is illegal. I also believe that it can be done legally. The way I do it is to have a legal Zimbabwean outfitter and PH accompany us on all the hunts I have hunters for on that side. On arrival I park my SA registered vehicle in a shady spot and make use of a Zimbabwean registered vehicle, accompanied by a Zimbabwean PH. I play second fiddle. I get off the truck to open gates as and when required and I assist in making sure the hunter is happy with his surroundings. I make sure the TR2 was filed and after the hunt keep the hunter up to date with the progress of the export of the trophies.

Are there South Africans who foul up the system? You better believe it. I even know one such outfitter who has pretty much done the same on this side of the Limpopo. Pity though that the majority of people are normally judged by the actions of some.

It is a sad situation that is being abused by many people.

In my first post there are two distinct problems but definitely are related.

The land seizures are unfathomable. Could you imagine a group of people coming to your home and business and force you leave almost everything with no compensation. This has been happening in Zim for well over 15 years. This has happened to both white and black Zimbos under the guise of indigenisation. Now that all of the farms have been stolen they are taking over the last viable sector of the Zim economy. It is all about power. You are right, the animals will suffer. Savuli wil be decimated within a year. I understand there are 5 lion permits for Savuli. Last year there were not five lion permits for the whole Save and Savuli is only a small part of the conservancy. As hunters we can do very little if anything to stop the land seizures.

The second part of the problem is one we as hunters can have some input. If we support the people who take over these stolen properties we are part of the problem. The driving force for this land takeover is Shuvai Mahofa. She is on ther banned list. If any money from a hunt goes to her it is an illegal hunt for a US citizen. To me it is also immoral. If somebody outright stole your business and home I would never buy anything from them.

How do you know who is legal and who is not? The internet forums certainly make it less difficult. First of all if a deal looks to good to be true it probably is. Proper safaris even in Zim are still expensive. PAC hunts are illegal. For the most part anything with "management and non-exportable" is illegal especially when it comes to elephants. Hwange hunts are going to be illegal. Long standing Zim outfits like CM Safaris, Gavin Rorke, the BVC operators, Cliff Walker, Martin Pieters, Mokore, Zambezi hunters, Chifuti, and others are always a safe bet.

Email Martin Pieters before you book. He is the president of the ZPHGA. He can tell you if an area/hunt is legitamite. Post the question on a couple of forums, you will receive some honest answers.

As long as the good guys in Zim are allowed to operate I will hunt there and support them.

Pieter,

That is how is suppose to happen. You are taking care of your clients and working within the law like a reputable PH would.

The reason I made those references is I know of three separate hunters that hunted last year and did exactly what I described. One of the hunts was bought at SCI. None have received their trophies. For every foreign (not only SA) PH hunting illegally in Zim there is a Zimbabwe citizen supporting it.

Thanks Mike, point taken.

I fully understand the situation as we fled Rhodesia in '76 with the bear minimum having to start all new.

Unfortunately it now seems as if many of the officials (anyone wearing a uniform of some kind) are not being paid. This leads to these officials extorting money from anyone. A guy I know rented a Zim vehicle to transport his hunters from the concession to the airport. When turning onto the paved road the bus was pulled over and fined $ 30-00 for having dust on it. I was fined $5 per person in my truck because I did not have a reflector on the front of my truck. I believe foreign vehicles do not have to comply with all of the local regulations.

Be that as it may, Zimbabwe is still a magnificent hunting destination and I really wish those outfitters all of the best. It will get worse with the progressing power struggle as it is and until the departure of Mugabe. If there was any way I could support the outfits there more than I currently can, I certainly would.

I watched 2 videos put out by PSE archery on a place called IWABA. I thought someday, I might grow up and maybe go hunt there. I found a few years ago that they were thrown out and their land taken from under them. Scary stuff. Leave millions of dollars behind or get lined up and shot.

The resilience of you guys is amazing. I have a friend from my hometown in Louisiana that married a Zim farmer back in 85. She has lived in Zim since. Their farm was stolen in 2001 and they now live in Harare. She still believes Zim is the best place on earth to live.

Yep. When I hunted in Zim, the game scout had not been paid for four months. He asked if we (the safari operator and I) could pay him. Can you say, "Conflict of interest?" I did give him a tip, though, because he carried my rifle some of the time.

Well said! Zim is a beautiful place to hunt and fine hunting areas still remain. Some of the best PH's anywhere.

Unfortunately, the shortsighted locals have no appreciation of game management or land management and are doing their best to destroy what was once a paradise.

a sad and familiar refrain from Africa.....