The Marloth Park Honorary Rangers (HR) will be under the leadership of a new chief for the first time in five years, following their recent AGM, which was the last for outgoing chief Genie Retief.

The organisation hosted its AGM on January 27 with an extremely important item on the agenda – electing a committee from which a replacement for long-serving chief honorary ranger Genie Retief would be chosen. She has led the Honorary Rangers team in Marloth Park for the past five years, having taken over the reins in 2021. Further afield, Retief has been an active honorary ranger for two decades.

She took charge of the Marloth Park outfit as a struggling and embattled organisation with only 13 members. Under her leadership, they have grown significantly and seen a major resurgence, to the point where they now boast more than 40 members.

One of the key aspects of Retief’s tenure was her managing to rebuild the relationship with the Nkomazi Local Municipality’s municipal conservation and town planning departments. Another important factor was the establishment of ‘core function teams’ that tackled issues in the area such as alien and invasive plant clearing, maintenance, lion tracking, fundraising, and more.

But, perhaps most importantly, Retief ensured that the honorary rangers tackled a serious Marloth Park problem – veld degradation. With ex-conservation manager Johan van der Walt heading up the veld rehabilitation core function team, they started tackling the issue in August 2021 and now have 11 sites in the area that they have worked on or continue to work on.

The list of incredible feats achieved under Retief’s leadership is seemingly endless, showcasing the incredible work that she has not only overseen, but also carried out herself. During the AGM, she thanked each and every member of the organisation for their hard work and dedication, emphasising that they remain a family and together contributed to the revival and continued growth of the organisation.

During the business end of the AGM, the new 2026 committee was selected. Frik Pretorius and Cliff Eaton were announced as new members, and Retief wished the 2026 committee well. In addition to Pretorius and Eaton, Paul Dill-Franzen (treasurer), Veronica Donachie, Sophia Claassens, Michelle Kotze (secretary) and John Turner were elected.

To cap off the evening, Retief was presented with a card signed by all the members, a collage of photos from her time in the HR, an engraved HR thermos flask, and an iced ‘birdy’ cake for the after-meeting tea. The cake was all too appropriate to celebrate the person who led the monthly bird walks for over a decade.

*In the print version of the article, published in the February 11 edition of Corridor Gazette, it was stated that the new chief will be elected at the first meeting of the new committee. The meeting was held the week following the AGM and Sophia Claassens was elected the new chief.