Bobby Jordan

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson is embroiled in a land-claim dispute with a poor community of goatherds living on the edge of his luxurious private game reserve near the Kruger National Park.

Branson’s 13500ha Ulusaba Private Game Reserve boasts princely views, but representatives of the Nxumalo community in the adjacent veld say they are living in a dust bowl and want their land back.

They don’t know who Branson is but hope he won’t stand in their way.

“We’ve only heard some rumours that the guy [Branson] is from abroad,” said community spokesman Sam Sibiya.

Branson bought Ulusaba Lodge for 6-million in 1999. It includes two lodges and 20 rooms that cost up to R11000 each a day. His other properties include a private island in the British Virgin Islands and lodges in Mallorca, the Amalfi Coast in Italy and Oxfordshire outside London.

Jon Brown, managing director of Virgin Limited Edition, which runs Branson’s exclusive resorts, said: “Sir Richard Branson is aware [of the claim] and fully supports a co-operative approach.”

Branson, 57, has amassed a personal fortune of around R30-billion that stems from his highly successful Virgin group of companies.

Ulusaba, part of the Sabi Sands Game Reserve next to the Kruger National Park, is a five-star Big Five bushveld retreat offering everything from game drives to a beauty treatment centre and a gym.

The entire Sabi Sands Reserve is under land claim although only part of it is by the Shangaan-speaking Nxumalo. Another community, the Mnisi, are claiming adjacent land making up several other exclusive reserves including Timbavati, Klaserie and Manyeleti.

Jurgens Bekker, the Johannesburg lawyer representing the Nxumalo community, this week confirmed he was waiting for finalisation of the community claim. Community representatives approached him in April last year: “The claim is chugging along but these things do take time,” he said.

“It’s a large group of people, probably a couple of hundred [families], spread all over. They’re not living on the land they’re claiming,” Bekker said.

The Nxumalo claim is different from others in the area because Ulusaba is privately owned and not a government concession area. Once the claim is finalised, the community would have the choice of land restitution or financial compensation, Bekker said, adding that all sides were co-operating.

Although the claim was made before the 1998 land claims cut- off, it took several years to process and it was unlikely Branson would have known about it when he bought the property, Bekker said.

“I have heard via the grapevine that Branson understands the nature of this claim, and that the approach is that if there’s a claim then it will be dealt with properly,” he said.

Together with donations from rich guests, Ulusaba runs a community outreach programme for needy villages nearby, providing basic needs such as food, water and health services. 

Sunday Times