Daily Maverick: South Africa opens criminal case over five baobabs bound for Georgia

Daily Maverick (South Africa); OC Media2026-10-29T22:25:00Z

According to South Africa's Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), five large baobab trees were intercepted on 17 July at a logistics warehouse in Durban because the exporter could not produce a valid licence under the National Forests Act, which lists baobabs as a protected species. The department says the trees were dug up in Limpopo's Lephalale municipality without a provincial permit and were "scheduled for export to Georgia". The DFFE says criminal charges have been laid against several parties it has not named; the offence carries a fine or up to three years in prison. An export licence was refused on 31 July, and according to Daily Maverick an appeal was dismissed on 27 October.

Daily Maverick first reported the seizure on 25 October; OC Media confirms the DFFE details. Who ordered the trees in Georgia has not been established: the DFFE declines to name the importer, citing data-protection law. Daily Maverick recalls that eight baobabs imported from Kenya in 2023 to the Shekvetili Dendrological Park, founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, died, but no source links this shipment to the park. Georgia's embassy in Pretoria had not answered Daily Maverick's questions. The exporter's lawyers dispute the process and say their client has not been formally charged.

Read the full story at Daily Maverick (South Africa); OC Media ↗