Green Apartheid | VPRO Documentary
77Climate change warnings are leading to large investments in conservation and wildlife management in Africa. But the ambition to guard nature and animals increases social inequality and creates green apartheid.
Bram Vermeulen is in Hoedspruit. This small town on the edge of South Africa's Kruger Park has been transformed in a short time into a five-star resort, full of restaurants, souvenir shops and real estate agents selling a big promise. For relatively little money you can buy land and luxury villas here, amidst nature and wildlife. A paradise for those who can afford it. But what lies behind this green dream?
A Dutch entrepreneur is among the property developers marketing the 'Out Of Africa dream', particularly to Dutch buyers. An African farmer breeds the animals needed to fill the game parks for hunting and pleasure; from rhinos to sable antelopes. And a militarized anti-poaching unit guards the green paradise we all want so badly.
But on the edges of the town, things are brewing. The staff who work at the resorts are tucked away in a slum. And there appear to be land claims on the land where the private game parks and resorts are springing up. Thousands of black South Africans are demanding back the land they were driven from during apartheid. The land on which the Dutch entrepreneur is building is also being claimed.
Meanwhile, the private anti-poaching unit that guards the parks and resorts is embroiled in a war with crime syndicates that want to sell the horns of killed rhinos to the Far East for a lot of money.
About this series:
In 'Frontline' Dutch reporter Bram Vermeulen reports about themes that are often underexposed, but at the same time inextricably linked to our lives here.
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