Cattlemen and Cowboys of South Africa
Profiles of beef cattle people connected to South Africa.
- 1600sAfrikanerDescended from the herds of the Khoikhoi, the deep red Afrikaner was once South Africa's most numerous cattle breed.South Africa
- 1867-1936Arnold TheilerA one-handed Swiss veterinarian arrived in South Africa in 1891 and went on to found the continent's most important…South Africa
- 1937 onwardBonsmaraA university experiment that began in 1937 produced a composite breed that became South Africa's most numerous beef…South Africa
- livingCyril RamaphosaOn his Mpumalanga farm, the South African president built an Ankole herd from Ugandan cows and Kenyan embryo quarantine.South Africa
- 1909-Jan Cornelis BonsmaA University of Pretoria animal scientist crossed Afrikaner cattle with British breeds and produced South Africa's…South Africa
- livingLourie van ReenenHe began by fattening a handful of small calves on a mixed farm and ended up with one of the Northern Cape's largest…South Africa
- AntiquityNguniKept for generations by Nguni-speaking peoples, these multicolored cattle are among the most loved breeds in southern…South Africa
- livingNick SerfonteinAn engineer by training, he registered the Sernick Bonsmara stud in 1983 and spent the next decades adding feed,…South Africa
- livingOswald JannaschA medical specialist turned Limpopo breeder who says his Nguni need almost no vet bills, and who now leads the breed…South Africa
- livingRudzani SadikiA Limpopo herdsman's son started with goats and broilers, then built a record-keeping Bonsmara herd on a leased farm.South Africa
- livingRustin ShaweNear Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga, a shorter mating season and careful records turned a Droughtmaster stud into a…South Africa
- livingTheo CoetzeeMixing grain, a feedlot and a Beefmaster stud on about 4,700 hectares, a North West farmer built his herd on fertility…South Africa
Also honored
- Danie Bosman living Animal scientist who advised Jordaan and Bruinette on the Afrikaner-Bonsmara infusion.
- Dewald Olivier living Executive Officer of the SA Feedlot Association.
- Gerhard Schutte living CEO of the RPO.
- Ivor Karan living Founded Karan Beef in 1974. The company says it is Africa's largest beef producer, with room for up to 210,000 head across its Heidelberg feedlot and other sites (a company claim)
- Louw van Reenen living Executive chair of SA's third-largest beef producer
- Nico Harris living President of the Nguni Cattle Breeders' Society of South Africa.
- Simon Hodgson fl. 1990s Miles Fletcher's nephew who pursued bringing Boran embryos to South Africa from 1994.