SAFCOL loses R20 million annually to timber theft and illegal mining in Mpumalanga

The South African Forestry Company Limited (SAFCOL) is losing almost R20 million a year to timber theft by organised syndicates, while illegal mining is damaging its nature reserves and threatening eco-tourism in Mpumalanga.

The state-owned forestry company revealed the figures while briefing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation during an oversight visit to its plantations in Sabie on Friday.

SAFCOL Acting Chief Executive Officer Sibalo Dlamini said timber theft had escalated into a serious organised crime problem. He told the committee the criminal activities involved highly organised and heavily armed syndicates who enter the plantations at night to harvest timber.

Dlamini said the sheer scale of SAFCOL’s operations made effective policing extremely difficult.

He told the committee the plantations stretch across thousands of hectares in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, making it a challenge to secure every area.

As a result, he said SAFCOL had begun a process to install digital security systems to improve early detection of illegal activities across its forestry assets.

The company also blamed the rise of small, informal sawmills for fuelling illegal logging and called on government to strengthen regulation of the sector.

“SAFCOL has also attributed the emergence of small sawmillers for contributing to illegal harvesting and called on government to tighten regulations in the sector,” the commette said.

Beyond timber theft, the committee heard that illegal mining in SAFCOL’s nature reserves is putting eco-tourism at risk and has already forced the closure of some hiking trails.

Committee members backed SAFCOL’s proposal to make timber theft a priority crime and to bar the issuing of mining licences on forestry land.

Members agreed with the proposal “to have timber theft declared a priority crime and for tighter legislative measures not to issue mining licences in areas designated as forestry land,” the commettesaid.

Despite the challenges, the committee praised the company for its strong governance and safety improvements.

MPs commended SAFCOL’s “unqualified audit and the introduction of mechanised harvesting system which significantly reduced the number of injuries and fatalities in the company’s operations.”

They also welcomed its support for small businesses.

The committee noted that SAFCOL’s incubation and enterprise development programmes “have empowered over 108 SMMEs in the past three years.”

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