Exotic plants such as the Port Jackson (Acacia saligna) and Rooikrans (Acacia Cyclops) outcompete natural Fynbos vegetation due to a lack of natural predators.  The quickly densify and overgrow huge areas.  These dense stands of trees draw their water directly from the water table in huge quantities, while at the same time taking the minerals from the top soil, starving the natural vegetation even more.  The dense stands of trees create a huge fire risk due to the heavy fuel load, up to 400% higher than natural Fynbos vegetation.  The heavy fuel loads also means warmer fires that are more difficult to control and can spread quicker than a natural veld fire. 

Since 2005, we have employed ten full time staff members tasked with clearing both farmers of all invasive weeds.  This is indeed a tremendous task and at the current rate, will take another 8 years to complete and another 30 years of follow-ups to ensure they don’t take over again.  By completely removing the invasive weeds, we can start the extensive process of rehabilitating the veld back to natural Renosterveld.