The Oppenheimers and Tswalu: a History

Although Tswalu game reserve in South Africa is currently owned by Nicky Oppenheimer's family, the reserve was originally the vision of the late Stephen Boler, a Manchester entrepreneur who undertook one of the largest private conservation projects in Africa. In a period of four years, Boler established the 100 000 hectare reserve and introduced thousands of game animals including the rare desert black rhino, sable and roan antelope, Cape buffalo and cheetah. In April 1999, after Boler's death in October 1998, the Oppenheimers, a well-known mining family of South Africa, purchased Tswalu from his estate.

Although much has changed in the years since Nicky Oppenheimer's family acquired Tswalu, the overall goal has remained unchanged - "to restore the Kalahari to itself" and to make Tswalu one of the premier wildlife destinations in Africa as well as a premier South Africa game reserve. The area had previously been farmed with little regard for the environment, and as a result, the very essence of the authentic Africa it once was had been almost completely destroyed. However, thanks to the destruction of dams, removal of houses and fences and re-establishment of indigenous game such as cheetah and lion, it is now on the road to resembling the real Africa that nature intended.

Much is still to be done, but the Oppenheimers' commitment to excellence and the resolve to restore Tswalu's land and its wildlife remains unchanged. Tswalu is a South Africa game reserve that is a work in progress. The reserve extends the ethos of the Oppenheimer family's other major conservation initiatives at eZemvelo in Gauteng, and at Waltham Place in the UK.