The South African National Biodiversity Institute has rejected claims by well-known naturalist James Deacon that Kirstenbosch Garden is going through a phase of “decay and death”.

In a lengthy Facebook post last week, Deacon wrote that plant collections that have taken decades to establish are sitting neglected and are slowly dying.

Deacon has been involved in the Kirstenbosch garden for close to two decades.

“The Protea collection is less than a third of what it was, and only a fraction of the Ericas remain. One plant has gone from extinct in the wild to completely extinct purely due to a lack of effort to keep it going. Places once full of plants sit empty and, in some cases, full of weeds because the production of plants is so diminished.”

His post resonated with hundreds of Facebook commentators, who agreed that the Garden appeared to be in a poor state at the moment.

Deacon blamed SANBI’s poor financial management for the situation, calling on concerned parties to email the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Willie Aucamp, posting Aucamp’s email address in one of the comments.

He also cited staff shortages and low staff morale, all of which SANBI has responded to (see Q&A below).

In a Facebook post on Friday, SANBI labelled Deacon’s actions as counterproductive and his allegations “inexact”. SANBI says they met with Deacon in February, at the request of the Minister.

“During the engagement, which included discussions and explanations on all issues raised, Mr Deacon conceded that some of his allegations were inexact. Following this meeting, SANBI considered the matter resolved as per the discussion with Mr Deacon. Having been afforded an opportunity to engage with SANBI so soon after lodging his initial complaint as per the Minister’s instructions, it is regrettable that Mr Deacon has now publicly shared the Minister’s private email address and encouraged members of the public to spam him.”

Smile FM sent questions to SANBI to respond to the substance of the allegations levelled by Deacon.

Senior Manager for Marketing, Communication and Commercialisation, Nontsikelelo Mpulo, responded as follows:

1. How does SANBI respond to allegations that key plant collections at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden have deteriorated due to neglect and declining nursery capacity?

The collections are not being neglected. They are managed appropriately and with due care. Kirstenbosch manages two large nurseries, namely a production and a living collections nursery. The productions nursery is fully operational and produces plants for display in the garden. Kirstenbosch has upgraded some of its nursery facilities in the past few years. Phase 1 was completed, and Phase 2 is scheduled to continue in 2026/27. Phase 2 will entail the mechanical aspects of the functioning of the nurseries, e.g. the climate control units as well as the refurbishments of the conservatory.

2. What steps are being taken to address claims of staff shortages, low morale, and the departure of experienced botanical specialists from Kirstenbosch?

SANBI has a dedicated Employee Assistance Programme that provides support systems for all its staff and associated families. Monthly meetings with staff are held, at which they can raise issues or concerns. SANBI is currently sourcing additional labour through partnership agreements with a range of government and non-government organisations, which will assist in the ongoing maintenance of the garden while the Garden continues to address human resource capacity gaps. SANBI is continuing to implement processes to ensure staff are adequately resourced to fulfil their roles and responsibilities.

3. Can SANBI confirm whether any plant species maintained at Kirstenbosch have become extinct in cultivation due to a lack of resources or management intervention?

We do not know of a species that has gone from extinct in the wild to extinct at Kirstenbosch. There are instances in which SANBI keeps species in our gardens across the country which are possibly extinct in the wild, critically endangered or threatened.

4. What is SANBI’s response to allegations of procurement delays affecting the maintenance and operation of the garden’s collections?

SANBI is bound to follow procurement prescripts as defined by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). The organisation is pursuing continuous improvements to ensure that day-to-day resources necessary for the operation and maintenance of the garden and its collections are sourced in alignment with prescribed national procurement processes and procedures.

5. How does SANBI plan to restore and preserve the Protea, Erica, and other specialised collections that are reportedly in decline?

Kirstenbosch has had a dedicated Erica horticulturist since 2020. Some Erica specialists have left or have passed on, and others have taken their place to continue with the cultivation of Ericas. Specialisation in any plant group takes years to build up. The Protea horticulturist transferred to one of SANBI’s other national botanical gardens in December 2024. The position was advertised, and given the specialised knowledge and skills required, this vacancy took some time to fill. The recruitment process for a protea specialist is in the final stages. Kirstenbosch still has seven experienced and skilled horticulturists as well as a dedicated Garden Manager responsible for oversight over the gardens’ horticulturists and living collections.

6. Are there financial constraints currently affecting operations at Kirstenbosch, and if so, what measures are being implemented to stabilise the garden’s management and conservation work?

Kirstenbosch is one of the eleven national botanical gardens in the SANBI network. SANBI is liquid and solvent, and Kirstenbosch is one of the top three gardens contributing to its own income generation efforts. SANBI has not been spared from budget cuts, hence additional efforts are being implemented through the Financial Sustainability Strategy of the entity. This includes diversifying own revenue streams from outside of the traditional government sources. SANBI will be appointing many beneficiaries through DFFE’s EPWP Environmental Programmes to support garden maintenance, especially of the living collections and display areas, in 2026/27, and extending into 2027/28 to 2028/29. Kirstenbosch will also be receiving Tourism Monitors in the next few months through funding provided from the National Department of Tourism. Kirstenbosch also hosts interns through the Youth Employment Services (YES) programme that support ongoing garden maintenance.

The City of Cape Town has warned that fares on the MyCiTi service may increase from July 2026, driven by sustained high diesel costs.

The City’s Urban Mobility Directorate said it is giving commuters early notice so households can prepare and budget ahead of possible changes.

Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Rob Quintas, confirmed that the City has been shielding commuters from higher fuel prices for several months.

“The City has absorbed the costs of the exceptional increases in the diesel price since March. Thus, we have protected MyCiTi commuters from the devastating impact for three months already and will continue to do so in June.”

Quintas stressed that while the department has the interests of commuters at heart, relief cannot continue indefinitely if fuel prices remain high.

Quintas said fare increases are likely in July, depending on the diesel price announced by the national government in early June, with fares predicted to rise by at least 32% if current fuel trends continue.

“We have tried our utmost best to protect our MyCiTi commuters for as long as possible against the sky-high diesel prices, and we are still trying. Unfortunately, we cannot do so for much longer. Commuters will be able to save money in June, but as of July, the MyCiTi fares may be higher. We want to inform commuters a few weeks in advance so that they can budget for this increase.”

According to Quintas, international factors, including the conflict in the Middle East, are contributing to unstable fuel prices.

“The conflict in the Middle East is causing genuine hardship for ordinary people around the world, especially the most vulnerable people in society. We can’t control global oil markets, but we want to assure commuters that we will keep on trying to make the service as affordable as possible for as long as possible.”

Don’t take chances with the police dogs, Virus and Bunny in Cape Town. In the latest incident, Bunny found nearly 3,000 Mandrax tablets in an informal settlement in Belville. Last week, Virus was instrumental in locating a drug stash in a parked car at Parksig Villas, also in Bellville. These drugs have an estimated street value of more than R2.7 million.

Virus and Bunny strike in Bellville

The Cape Town Metro Police say the drugs that Bunny led officers to have a street value of more than R130 000. At the same time, law enforcement officers also confiscated 14 rounds of ammunition, a cellphone which turned out to be stolen and over R5 000 in cash.

Drug bust just a hop, skip and a jump for K9 Bunny

Earlier, officers entrenched in the Metro Police K9 Unit were alerted about drugs that were allegedly being stored at a premises in the Tienie Meyer Bypass informal settlement. On arrival at the place and after requesting permission to conduct a search, officers discovered four mandrax tablets. However, they decided to expand the search and called on their K9 counterparts to assist.

A suspect has been detained

Bunny didn’t need a lot of prodding. In a jiffy, the dog led his handler to a black bag which was hidden behind a cupboard. A 34-year-old suspect was arrested. He has been detained at Bellville SAPS and will appear in court once charged. The investigation continues.

The City of Cape Town is opening a supplementary round of public participation on amendments to the 2026/27 Budget, necessitated by a Western Cape High Court ruling that the Metro’s tariff structures were unlawful. 

Deciding against appealing the ruling, the City says it will publish these amendments for public comment today, with the comment period running from 27 May to 10 June 2026. This should allow the City sufficient time to adopt a budget before the financial year begins on 1 July 2026, as required by law.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis maintains that the court ruling limits the ability of the City – and all municipalities – to cross-subsidise to protect lower- and middle- income households.

“A key impact of this court ruling is what we’ve warned all along: that water and sanitation fixed charges will go up for many families in lower- and middle-value residential properties, and go down for higher-value properties.”

 

Hill-Lewis says they have now proposed a further raising of the rates-free rebate to the first R620 000 of property value, up from R450 000, for residential properties under R8m. All indigent benefits will also apply up to R620 000 residential property value.

He says this will reduce property rates for many households in the lower- and middle-value bands to mitigate the rise in charges they will face because of the court ruling.

The Mayor has also rejected calls to make cuts to any of Cape Town’s essential infrastructure projects to balance the budget.

Other proposed amendments to be published for comment include:

• City-wide cleaning costs to move back into property rates, instead of a stand-alone charge. This will change the -10,2% reduction in rates tabled in March, before the High Court ruling.
• Commercial property rates will also increase, while electricity unit costs will reduce due to the phased reduction of the surcharge contribution to city-wide cleaning.
• Residential electricity tariffs remain unchanged as these customers no longer contribute to city-wide cleaning in this way.
• Fixed Water and Sanitation charges revert to the water meter connection size. This was the method before the use of property value bands.

The impact of the ruling does not affect the expenditure aspects of the tabled budget, and no new comment is invited in that regard.

Hill-Lewis added that they will engage the National Treasury and Co-operative Governance departments nationally to seek regulatory clarity on available options for municipalities to equitably cross-subsidise lower- and middle-income households, given the Court’s rejection of property-value bands as a means of achieving this.