Cyril Ramaphosa has quite a lengthy list of achievements to his name, and most South Africans are well aware of his business prowess.

Fewer South Africans know about what he has called his “proudest achievement”, though, which is his impressive collection of game, including cattle.

The game business is a very profitable one (last year, a single sable sold for R6,8 million), and over the weekend an auction near the northern South African town of Bela Bela saw some big hitters gather to outbid one another.

President Ramaphosa was there, as Moneyweb reports:

Even as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s July announcement that the ruling party will push ahead with plans to expropriate land without compensation pushes down the rand and damages investor sentiment, he sold $1.3 million worth of animals from his expansive game and cattle operations.

… a group of six farms known collectively as Stud Game Breeders raised about R99 million ($6.7 million) through the sale of animals including Cape buffaloes and kudu antelope. Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala Wildlife farm is part of the group and sold animals for a total of R19.7 million.

Just under R20 million isn’t too shabby a number, although Ramaphosa wasn’t there to witness the actual auction taking place.

He was there on Friday to address those gathered about how the state intends to expropriate land without compensation:

Ramaphosa told 400 of the world’s biggest game buyers that the government would implement its eventual land policy responsibly when he spoke to them the night before the auction, people who were at the event said, declining to be identified. Attendees, some of whom arrived in private jets and helicopters, are among the nation’s biggest landholders.

His Phala Phala Wildlife farm sold 15 auction lots, including sable, gemsbok and his prized Ugandan Ankole cattle.

All in all, he would have been happy with how the auction went, especially considering some of the rumours ahead of the weekend:

People attending the auction, the biggest of its kind this year, said there had been talk about Ramaphosa’s lots being boycotted because of the ruling party’s expropriation plans. This didn’t come to pass, with many of his animals commanding premium prices, said Brandon Leer, an independent auctioneer who ran the event.

The president’s biggest earner was Nduvo, a four-year-old buffalo bull bought for R4.1 million.

Perhaps the biggest winner was Norman Adami, former chairman of SABMiller’s local unit, who sold R42 million of game. That included Umfula, a buffalo bull that fetched R7,5 million, the day’s highest price.

A fine beast indeed.

[source:moneyweb]