Agtergrond – Background About SA Hunters
About SA Hunters
| 17 October 2010
The Beginning
It was on a Saturday morning October 1, 1949 when 50 hunters formed a hunting association at the Pretoria Zoo. Back then, game was shot on an unbridled basis and a hunters’ association was seen to play a role in changing the situation. From the start, conservation became part of the Transvaal Hunters’ Association’s agenda. The government of the time supported the idea with the then Adminstrator of Transvaal as the patron, and the Provincial Secretary, Governor General of Mozambique, Minister of Lands, Deputy Commissioner of Police, the Conservator of Fauna and Flora and the head of the National Parks Board as honorary members.
The Association obtained hunting opportunities in Bechuanaland [now Botswana], Angola and Mozambique for its members. During 1957 the Association changed its name to the South African Hunting and Game Conservation Association. Membership numbers increased to 286 with members in the Transvaal, Orange Free State, Natal, Cape Province, South West Africa and Rhodesia.
Donations were made to the National Parks Board for “Operation Rhino”, the Hungarian emergency relief fund, Pietersburg Municipality Game Park and Wildlife Management Chair at the University of Pretoria.
Membership numbers grew systematically and when the Association reached its sixtieth year it had more than 30 000 registered members with more than 69 branches.
Goal and Mission
The Association’s goal is to:
- To promote sport shooting and hunting in South Africa and provide excellent service to its members.
- To promote and build responsible hunting as an essential part of sustainable use and conservation
- Establish and promote positive public image of sport shooters and hunters
- To initiate and promote conservation and by doing so, contribute to our wild life heritage
- Provide training in the culture and of responsible hunting, hunting skills and to better the ability of members in the use of hunting gear and through this improve the hunting and shooting skills of members
- To promote and develop responsible fire arm ownership
- To liaise with the Authorities and participate in the consultative and decision making processes to promote members’ interest
Code of Conduct
With a deep founded gratitude towards the Supreme Being and Creator of all living things and with an intense appreciation of the universe in its totality do I bind me as hunter and as member of the South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association to:
- Respect all the written and unwritten hunting laws and directives and not to remove anything from nature to which I am not entitled to
- Hunt with compassion and to only remove from nature what I can use
- Actively conserve the fauna and flora, soil of the earth, water and life and to act towards what it symbolises, with love and respect
- Use my fire arm skilfully and with good judgement and with respect towards life
- Hunt with humbleness, to respect my fellow hunter and to promote and build hunting
Activities
The activities of SAHGCA are:
- Administration of membership matters, bookkeeping and the financial management of the Association and coordinating branch and regional affairs
- Formulating the training and the training of the Dedicated hunter and sport shot as per the applicable legislation
- Managing the requirements necessary for maintaining the Dedicated hunting and sport shooting status in front of the law
- Initiating and promoting conservation
- Promote archery amongst the youth through NASP
- Promote and organise shooting competitions and formulating shooting regulations
- Liaison with the Government on nature conservation and SAPS in connection with the application of fire arm legislation
- Promote hunting
- HuntEx the annual hunters’ expo
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