The local community acquires a bigger stake in SQF

South Africa’s SiyaQhubeka Community Trust has acquired an increased equity stake in SiyaQhubeka Forests (SQF), marking a significant milestone in the transformation journey of this forestry business that is built on a partnership between the government, private sector and local communities.

A black rhino strolls through a young SQF Eucalyptus compartment. It is an example of forestry and conservation working side by side.

The shareholding transfer sees the SiyaQhubeka Community Trust (SQT) increase its stake from 5.4% to 15.4%, strengthening the local community’s role as an active participant in the business.

During his address at the shares handover ceremony held in Kwambonambi, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) recently, Mondi Forests’ Managing Director, Themba Vilane, said, “SiyaQhubeka Forests is more than just a forestry enterprise. It was designed as a beacon of empowerment and transformation where communities, businesses, and government can work together to create opportunities to benefit us all.

This grassland on the western shores of Lake St Lucia was restored to conservation following the incorporating of parts of SQF plantations into the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Remnants of the pine trees that used to grow here have been cleared and stacked and will decompose, leaving no trace. SQF plantation can be seen in the background.

“Today’s shareholding handover marks an important step forward in our partnership with SiyaQhubeka Forests. This milestone underscores our commitment to transformation as we increase community ownership and foster greater economic participation”, he said.

Since its formation in 1999, the SQF team has established over 22,000 ha of productive, fast-growing Eucalyptus plantations while developing an impressive suite of community upliftment projects ranging from education to health care, food security and disaster relief. At the same time, community-based entrepreneurs have been supported through Mondi Zimele in establishing silviculture, harvesting, and transport businesses that provide services to SQF.

Another feather in SQF’s cap is its role in conservation through a unique partnership with the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a designated World Heritage Site.

In terms of this partnership, SQF has returned 4,000ha of formerly planted land to conservation, thus restoring natural ecological systems like wetlands and grasslands and expanding the area available to the wildlife within the park. This has created a unique model in which sustainable commercial forestry operations have integrated seamlessly with environmental conservation.

Another indication of success can be seen in the growth of the business, which has enabled the SQF team to acquire two more properties to expand the plantation area. Further opportunities to expand the plantation footprint of SQF are being pursued.

SiyaQhubeka Forests stakeholders celebrate the transfer of shares to the SiyaQhubeka Community Trust, which now holds 15,4% equity in the forestry business.

SiyaQhubeka was founded in 1999 in response to a government decision to privatise the Nyalazi, Dukuduku, Kwambonambi and Port Durnford plantations in Zululand operated by the state-owned forestry enterprise Safcol.

Mondi formed a consortium known as SiyaQhubeka Forests with the black empowerment group Imbokodvo Lemabalabala Holdings (ILH), which successfully bid for the plantations. Mondi acquired 75% of the shares in the new business from Safcol and then reduced its shareholding to 51%, selling 24% of its shares as follows:-

5.4% - SiyaQhubeka Community Trust (represents neighbouring communities).

5.4% - Khulanathi Growers Trust (represents small-scale timber growers supplying Mondi).

13.2% - Imbokodvo Lemabalabala Holdings (a black empowerment group).

Mondi retained 51% of the shares in SQF, and Safcol retained 25%. The share sales were financed mainly through loans from the IDC and have been fully repaid by applying dividends.

SQF renovated and furnished the Nsiwa primary school library for the Matholonjeni community. The library enhances the school pupils’ vocabulary, comprehension, and communication through reading.

The equity deal concluded recently saw Safcol transfer an additional 10% of its shares to the SiyaQhubeka Community Trust. Thus, 34% of SQF shares (excluding government) are now in black hands.

SiyaQhubeka Forests is a Level 1 BBBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) contributor whose forestry operations are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). It currently manages 29,352ha of land, with 22,862ha planted for commercial forestry.

SQF is managed by Mondi Forests under the direction of the SQF Board, which includes representatives from all shareholders. The land is leased from the government. Pulpwood harvested from the SQF plantations is sold to Mondi’s Richards Bay mill under a timber supply agreement at the best market price.

Installing a borehole sponsored by SQF at Mfekayi will provide steady running water to hundreds of people, improving health and quality of life.

SQF Board chairperson Dinga Mncube underlined the significance of the transaction in his address at the share handover ceremony, “This shareholding transfer represents three critical principles. First is inclusive growth, where our communities have a growing stake in the forestry sector and directly benefit from its success. Second, sustainable business - ensuring that SiyaQhubeka continues to create opportunities while preserving the environment. And third, strength in partnership. Our collaboration with Mondi, Safcol, government, and local communities is what makes this partnership work.”

SQF’s community inter-cropping initiative addresses food security while enhancing soil fertility. Community members plant groundnuts in between the young Eucalyptus seedlings before the canopy closes. The groundnuts fix nitrogen in the soil, help to keep the inter-rows weed-free and provide healthy nutrition for the community farmers at harvest time.

The transfer of equity is expected to stimulate local enterprise development, create jobs, and provide further training and upskilling opportunities for community members.

Israel Nyawo (left) is a proud transport contractor for SiyaQhubeka Forests, hauling timber from the plantation to Mondi’s Richards Bay Mill. He started his contracting business, Foot Prints Holdings, with support from Mondi Zimele.

Zanele Nkhosi - SAFCOL Machine Operator

In a new series of videos, She Is Forestry SA profiles women who have had fascinating journeys and careers in forestry. These videos serve to inspire women to pursue careers in the forestry sector and educate the public on the wide variety of interesting roles and avenues that exist in the forestry value chain.

Women's Month is an ideal time to share these stories and celebrate the roles that women play in the industry, challenging stereotapes and bringing unique skills to every facet of the industry.

Zanele Nkhosi shares her forestry journey from general worker to machine operator, hoping this will inspire others to follow in her footsteps...

Can Safcol save Pietermaritzburg’s plantations?

*This is how parts of the Pietermaritzburg city plantation looks like today, where Illegal dumping and timber theft is rife.*

The forests that surround Pietermaritzburg should be – could be – one of the city’s finest assets. If well managed they can yield a sustainable annual harvest of some 25 000 tons of timber and bark, provide visitors and residents with endless recreational opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, trail running and bird watching, while providing free ecological services in the form of fresh, clean water from the numerous streams that run through it.

Instead, over the past five years or so under the ‘management’ of the Msunduzi Municipality, the forest has become a major fire risk, a major alien plant infestation, an illegal dumping ground, rife with timber theft, and rapidly becoming a liability that produces little or no revenue for the city coffers. It has also lost its FSC certification, a globally recognised standard for responsible and sustainable forest management.

This scenario has been repeated in other municipal owned plantations in KwaZulu-Natal – such as Richmond – where forest assets have become seriously degraded under the management of municipal officials who appear to have little interest in sustainable forest management.

However after years of indecision, some sanity has at last prevailed and there is hope that the Msunduzi plantation forests may be salvaged. The good news is that the City has signed a three-year plantation management contract with the state-owned forestry company, Safcol, which has considerable experience in plantation management.

Whether the Safcol team has the will, the budget - and the time - to turn this plantation around, remains to be seen. Forestry is a long term business. Eucalyptus trees take eight years to reach maturity after planting, wattle trees take 10 years, and pine trees grown for sawlogs more like 25 years. So there is not a lot anybody can do in three years, unless the aim is just to extract value over the short term by harvesting standing trees.

*Harvesting operation on the go back in 2012. The city plantations are located on the hills around the city with deep soils and good annual rainfall, and have the potential to be highly productive.*

It would take years of work and significant capital investment to rehabilitate the plantation, fix the roads, put in fire breaks, clear the alien invasive plants encroaching on tree compartments, conservation areas and wetlands, while all the time carefully re-planting every hectare that is harvested with good quality material. This is a job for forestry professionals with a long term interest. Getting the plantation back onto a sustainable management footing would generate significant revenue for the city, boost its image and tourism potential, and create dozens of additional jobs both on-site and downstream.

It is understood that Safcol will have an option to renew the contract at the end of the three years, provided they can demonstrate an acceptable level of service. This is the rationale behind the current short-term contract, which hopefully will become a more realistic, longer term commitment after the three years is up.

According to a Safcol spokesperson, the Msunduzi plantations will be managed by Thabo Ndhlovu and his team from Safcol’s Ngome plantation in KZN.

Commenting at the signing of the service level agreement with Safcol, Msunduzi city manager Lulamile Mapholoba acknowledged the difficulties the city faced in their efforts to manage the plantations, and lauded the agreement with Safcol as a “very significant development in the history of the city”.

*FSC surveillance audit on the go back in 2012 … the Pietermaritzburg plantations were part of NCT’s group certification scheme, but have subsequently lost their certification status.*

Established in 1910
Pietermaritzburg’s commercial plantations were established way back in 1910 by the municipality, and originally comprised almost exclusively of wattle. Over the years some of the wattle was phased out and replaced by Eucalyptus and pine as the timber markets changed. The trees were removed entirely in some areas, to create the suburbs of Northdale and Woodlands. It currently covers an area of some 2 000 ha, 1 500 ha of which is planted to Eucalyptus, wattle and pine.

The plantation was managed by NCT Tree Farming from 1988 up until 2017. Under NCT’s management the plantation achieved FSC certification, a globally recognised standard for sustainable forest management.

During this period the NCT team, working in conjunction with the city's Parks and Recreation Department, started clearing the riparian areas inside the plantation, and embarked on a programme of planting indigenous trees. A number of local schools participated in the tree planting efforts, and the Wildlands Trust donated over 20 000 trees to the initiative.

Photo taken in 2012: Forester Rajesh Ramsamy and Steve Germishuizen of the SANBI Grasslands Programme (now with SAFAS) view a clean riparian zone between compartments where indigenous trees have been re-introduced by NCT and the City Parks Department. This zone was previously planted up with commercial trees, the stumps of which are still visible.

Photo taken in 2023: This conservation area is overgrown with alien invasive plants, but many of the indigenous trees planted by NCT and the City Parks Department some 12 years ago are still surviving.

This served to create a beautiful, natural environment that attracts a variety of birds and animals, and also creates a canopy that discourages the growth of invasive alien vegetation, thus making future maintenance of these areas easier and cheaper.

Unfortunately these open areas inside the plantation are now choked with weeds after the years of neglect, but the good news is that many of the indigenous trees planted during NCT’s time have survived and are still visible in between the bugweed, lantana and American bramble.

Plantation audit
A report compiled by the Sustainable African Forest Assurance Scheme (SAFAS) team in 2020 following an audit highlighted the poor state of the plantations. The audit yielded 13 major non-conformances with the SAFAS standard. “This represents a drastic failure in plantation management,” stated the Report’s author, Steve Germishuizen.

The audit highlighted irregularities in the contractual arrangements regarding the silviculture operations and timber harvesting that was taking place at the time; dangerously high risk for severe fires due to poor plantation management; roads in very poor condition and getting worse; inadequate control of timber theft and the management of illegal dumping; lack of a programme to control and eradicate listed invasive plant species in conservation corridors, wetlands and buffer zones; and harvested areas not being re-established.

“It is clear from the findings that the Msunduzi plantations are in a severely degraded state and urgent action is required before the costs of restoring them become prohibitive and the plantations become a threat rather than an asset to the city,” concluded the report.

Despite the fact that the city officials had requested the audit by SAFAS in the first place in the hopes of achieving PEFC certification, they failed to respond to the Report and the SAFAS team never heard from them again.

The fact that Safcol is now managing the plantation provides a glimmer of hope that it can be rehabilitated to the point where it can once again become a productive asset and a jewel in the crown that serves the city of Pietermaritzburg and its residents.

*Photo taken in 2023: Bugweed flourishing inside the plantations.*

*Photo taken in 2023: Erosion ravaged plantation road.*

Remembering Benno Krieg

Benno Krieg delivering a presentation at a forestry event a few years ago.

Yet another prominent figure in the forestry industry - Benno Krieg – has passed away as a result of Covid-19. Benno passed on Sunday 25 July 2021 in Windhoek, while he was on holiday.

Benno was a colourful character and forest engineering specialist who played a leading role in mechanising Komatiland’s forestry harvesting operations a few years back. He was very knowledgeable and highly opinionated, and was always asking the tough questions at forestry symposiums and conferences.

Benno held a Bachelor’s Degree in Nature Conservation and a Forestry B.Sc from the University of Stellenbosch, where he also obtained a Master’s Degree in Forest Engineering (M.Sc).

Benno launched his career in forestry with the Department of Forestry in Sabie, Nelspruit and Louis Trichardt, as a district manager and researcher. He spent over two decades (from 1994 to 2015) as a forestry engineer with Komatiland Forests, the commercial wing of the South African Forestry Company (SAFCOL). During this period Benno was responsible for introducing cut-to-length mechanized harvesting systems for both clearfell and thinning operations on Komatiland’s Mpumalanga plantations.

After leaving Komatiland Forests, Benno joined Bostek harvesting contractors as GM and consultant for around two years. Francois Roos, who worked with Benno at Bostek, commented: “A friend, colleague, advisor, team member, mentor, and bank of information has passed on and left a void no person can fill. He was very knowledgeable on all aspects of machinery and always contributed enthusiastically to any project he was asked to assist with. Numerous forestry handbooks, booklets, manuals, and guidelines had his name rightfully added and these will continue to guide operations and people for years to come. Benno always helped where he could and loved sharing his knowledge. He was strong-willed, opinionated, hardworking and determined, and always ready to share and give generously. He was continuously searching for new ways, methods, angles, and information, keeping him up to date and always relevant. He was convinced there must be a better, more refined way of doing things. He would number all versions of his workings and meticulously file them in sequence. A good argument and discussion with Benno would always leave you richer and with many positives. His smile and laughter which filled our offices, meetings, classrooms, boardrooms, lecture halls and vehicles will be missed.”

After his stint at Bostek Benno moved to Hitachi Construction Machinery as the Nelspruit Area Service Representative in 2019. His role was control of the Nelspruit Service Department with the responsibilities of after-market support for repairs and servicing of Hitachi excavators, wheeled loaders and off-highway trucks. Included in his portfolio was satellite monitoring of units in the field, customer liaison and advice, and pre-delivery inspections of new machines.

Benno checking out the equipment at a forestry expo.

Richard Blaylock, Branch Manager at Hitachi Construction Machinery Southern Africa Co (Pty) Ltd, recalls: “From inception Benno was noted for his infectious laugh which would reverberate throughout the offices. Never did he announce his arrival; his laugh would give him away. On the work front, he will be sadly missed for his astute approach to planning and execution in typical German fashion. Benno’s philosophy was to learn from mistakes and do things once and do it correctly. This was coupled with his motivation of staff - always in a friendly manner - and he never had a bad word to say, an indication of his dedication and hard-working nature.”

Ronald Heath of Forestry South Africa had this to say about Benno: “Throughout his career Benno constructively contributed to our sector. He will be remembered for his prominent role in FESA and his contribution to the establishment of the FSA Applied Operations Committee.”

A private family man, Benno enjoyed photography and nature. A devoted Christian, he always shared his Christian values and never compromised on what he believed was right.

Benno leaves his wife Noreen and sons Stefan and Daniel.