mamba75Snakes:
John Webber 0714806453
John Webb 0797785359 
Field Security 0828281043

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fire40Fire:
Field Security: 0828281043
HR: 072 778 5359
Rangers: 082 802 5894

HONORARY RANGERS AGM

14  January 2016

 

John Webber welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a brief outline on the ongoing water problems.

Present:      John Webber (Chair), Joce Gordon (2ic), Diana van Rensburg (Secretary), Nellie Morgan (Treasurer), Genie Retief, Peter Craig-Cooper, Linda Benade, John Webb, Lynette de Jong, Annemarie Esterhuizen, Tom Esterhuizen, Jim Morgan, Mike Bezuidenhout, Penelope Mason.

Apologies:           Andrew Hudson, Peter Joubert, Lenara Joubert, Oubaas Pretorius, Dev Farquarson, Andre Englebrecht, Graeme Altenkirk, Anri Pienaar, Frik Pienaar, Johan Veldsman, Yula Bezuidenhout.      

                                              

Confirmation of minutes of 2015 AGM   

A couple of errors with names will be amended otherwise the minutes were accepted.

             Accepted   Lynette de Jong, seconded   Peter Craig Cooper

Business arising from the minutes

              None

Chief Honorary Ranger’s Report

John distributed his report and read it out.  Diana has extra copies for those not present.

              Accepted   Mike Bezuidenhout

              Seconded   Nellie Morgan

Treasurer’s report and presentation of financial statement

Nellie presented a detailed report combining the bank and petty cash showing we are in a good financial position.   The grass seed has been paid for but there are a large number of bags still to sell which will increase profits.  The invoice for the new brochure on alien plants has not been received yet so this expense will fall into next year. 

Accepted    Joce Gordon

Seconded    Tom Esterhuizen

Election of Office Bearers

John Webber is standing down as CHR and is not available for the committee and Joce Gordon is standing down as 2ic but is available for the committee.

Nominations, which were seconded and accepted, were received for the following:

           Nellie Morgan, Diana van Rensburg, Joce Gordon, Andrew Hudson, Peter Craig    Cooper, Genie Retief, John
           Webb.

The committee is to decide on CHR and 2ic.

Joce thanked John Webber for all his hard work and dedication as CHR and received a round of applause.

General

Peter CC said HR must have strategies to move forward this year and although he has done research on water and security issues HR should focus on conservation and environmental issues.  HRs should support conservation measures undertaken by the Nkomazi municipality but we need input from Velly.  We are not aligned to MPPOA and do not report to them but should work with them on The Forum.  We could look at a different approach to try to involve the municipality and in particular Velly and this may mean keeping a paper trail of all requests for information and invitations to meetings and addressing the group.  The rangers hold a meeting every morning but we do not get feedback.  Alpheus is very helpful and appreciates the need to work together but we do need to know what areas they need support.

Since there is no feedback from the municipality there is a lack of direction for the groups which leads to more splintering and new organisations being set up, giving the municipality even more reason not to speak to so many groups.  Projects are driven bottom up and not top down which would be the case if there was leadership.

It is also municipal election time with new people coming into positions. 

The question was posed that if it rains soon how long will it take the veld to recover before winter.   The veld is unlikely to be in a good condition to see it through until next summer given the number of animals and even the browse line is already very high, impacting on the kudu.  The water table has dropped and many trees are already losing their leaves due to the drought conditions.  Gruispan is very low.  There is a lot of building work going on and rentals are on the increase further increasing the human footprint.  Unfortunately this inevitably leads to the necessity to reduce the numbers of animals. 

John Webb asked if the Ralf Kalwe plan has ever been adopted by the municipality but the municipality still has the Ben Orban report in place.  MPPOA should be driving the implementation of the Ralf Kalwe plan as it is a very slow process for a council to adopt new plans. 

The asset register will be brought up to date and the container can be cleared up.  Key holders to be noted.

Members’ renewal dates are to be checked with Joce.  Please let her know as she only does this twice a year.

Next General Meeting will be on 28 January 2016 at 8.00 am.

The list of meeting dates for the year will be decided and the room booked with Winnie.

Next AGM will be held on 19 January 2017

Our vision

hrOur vision is to support and assist the Nkomazi Municipality Conservation Department within Marloth Park with their management strategies and objectives while being an effective volunteer group. 
Read a brief  History of Honorary Rangers and the Conservancy

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