As CEO of the African Safari Foundation (ASF) and an affiliate of the Transfrontier Conservation Areas scheme (TFCA), Steve Collins conducts redevelopment initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. His work centers on rights advocacy and the establishment of sustainable economic frameworks for communities affected by civil unrest and those exploited through colonial mistreatment. Crucially, these socioeconomic and anti-apartheid concerns are synthesized with ecological ones, offering a practical foundation for sustainable economies in South Africa.

Rural Southern African economies are land-based; value is determined by the land itself and the concomitant rights it necessitates, such as hunting or agriculture. When land belonging to Indigenous tribes was taken, so too was their socioeconomic mobility.

Displacement and the Limits of TFCAs

Much of Collins’s work focuses on the South Africa–Mozambique border. This area traverses two national parks: the Kruger and the Limpopo. Around 3,000 people were displaced during the Kruger Park’s inception in 1913. In exile, they formed rural communities which, according to Professor Brian King, have “some of the highest rates of socioeconomic poverty in the country.” 

Global data resource Focus on Land in Africa (FOLA) adds that these areas suffer particularly from “high rates of infant mortality, malnutrition and illiteracy.” TFCAs were introduced to address these issues. However, the original proposal was inadequate. Indeed, the founding of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park saw a further 7,000 Mozambicans relocated. 

As such, Collins denounced these programs as “colonialism as conservation.” Indigenous tribes received “no compensation and no consultation.” This undermines the prospects for genuinely sustainable economies in South Africa and the wider region.

Community-Led Models for Sustainable Development

Collins has since reimagined how TFCAs operate and, through ASF, has successfully implemented long-term nature-based employment schemes that simultaneously serve conservation requirements. He refers to the Makuleke tribe. Expelled in 1969, ownership of their land was restored in 1998. 

Totaling more than 22,000 acres, it now holds 80% of Kruger National Park’s biodiversity. It houses two private five-star tourist lodges, which tribe members are employed to manage. Under the Makuleke Communal Property Association, members hold exclusive commercial rights over the land. Additionally, a proliferation of employment has resulted in 99% of the workforce being Makuleke members.

Many claimants received financial compensation through a scheme that distributed 84 million Rand (about $5 million) to dispossessed communities. However, Collins notes that poor subsequent regulation has resulted in little meaningful improvement. FOLA spokesperson M. Mercedes Stickler agrees, stating that “cash compensation… [detracts] from land reform’s ultimate goal of achieving racial equity in landholding.”

Still, Collins’s ambition extends further. He believes his model offers solutions for rural communities in countries such as Angola. There, development must comply with governmental restrictions demanding low-carbon growth, no intensive agriculture, no fracking and no pollution.

Final Remarks

Through the African Safari Foundation and reformed TFCAs, Collins and his team have established non-exclusionary, community-led and sustainable economic structures across Southern Africa. These initiatives have reinstated dispossessed populations as “agents and recipients of the land’s economic worth,” reinforcing pathways toward sustainable economies in South Africa.

– Jude Parsons

Jude is based in London, UK and focuses on Technology and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr