SANParks

LFN TAKES BABOON BATTLE TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT: “WE HAVE RUN OUT OF ROAD WHILE THE AUTHORITIES KEEP MOVING”

Leave a Comment / Constitution, Environment, Legal, Legislation, Politics, Real Story / By Reyno De Beer / 21 Sep 2026 / Alan Winde, Baboon Action Plan, Baboon Conservation, Baboon Management, Baboon Sanctuary, baboons, Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team, Cape Town, Cape Town Baboons, CapeNature, Commissioner for the Envirnoment, Constitutional Court, DA, Koggelfontein, LFN, Liberty Fighters, Reyno De Beer, SANParks, Western Cape Baboons

LFN has taken the Cape Peninsula baboon battle to the Constitutional Court after months of urgent litigation failed to secure effective protection against potentially irreversible sanctuary relocation. The breaking point came when all three pending High Court leave-to-appeal applications were set down for 18 September 2026 on extremely short notice, only for the hearing to be postponed into the fourth term because final typed judgments and professional transcripts were still unavailable, while no corresponding protection was put in place to preserve the baboons’ free-ranging status. With the authorities still able to move ahead while the appeals remain unresolved, LFN says it has “run out of road while the authorities keep moving”, and has now launched two urgent Constitutional Court applications seeking direct appellate relief and temporary protection to prevent the baboons from being irreversibly captured, removed and permanently confined before the constitutional and legality disputes are finally decided.

How the Baboons Exposed the DA — and Put South Africa’s Legal Fraternity Under the Microscope

Leave a Comment / Animal Welfare, Environment, Legal, Legislation, Politics, Real Story / By Reyno De Beer / 12 Sep 2026 / Administrative Law, Animal Welfare, Baboon Conservation, Baboon Management, Baboon Relocation, Baboon Sanctuary, Cape Independence Party, Cape of Good Hope SPCA, Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team, Cape Peninsula Baboons, Cape Town Baboons, CapeNature, CapExit, City of Cape Town, Commissioner for the Environment, Constitutional Reform, Constitutional Rights, CPBMJTT, DA, DA Accountability, Data Centres, Democratic Alliance, Environmental Accountability, Environmental Approvals, Environmental Law, Government Overreach, Government Transparency, Holderness J, JSC, Judicial Accountability, Judicial Independence, Judicial Service Commission, Le Grange J, LFN, Liberty Fighters, Litigant Profiling, Mabindla-Boqwana JP, Pro Se Litigation, Public Interest Litigation, Public Participation, Recusal, Reyno De Beer, Rule of Law, SANParks, Self-Represented Litigants, South African Constitution, South African Courts, SPCA, Vexatious Litigation, Western Cape Baboons, Western Cape Constitution, Western Cape Government, Wildlife Protection

What began as a fight to protect Cape Peninsula baboons has exposed something far bigger: a constitutional environmental watchdog left vacant for decades, DA-led government structures pressing ahead with irreversible measures, a court case trapped in procedural battles, allegations of ‘litigant profiling’, punitive costs, and judicial conduct now before the JSC. The baboons did not create these problems — they merely led LFN far enough into the system to expose them.

LFN vs City, CapeNature & SANParks: High Court to Hear Urgent Baboon Governance Case

Leave a Comment / Constitution, Environment, Legal, Politics, Real Story / By Reyno De Beer / 17 Feb 2026 / action plan, Alan Winde, baboons, Cape Town, CapeNature, DA, LFN, Liberty Fighters, Reyno De Beer, SANParks, Western Cape, Western Cape Constitution

On Thursday, 19 February 2026 at 10h00, the High Court Western Cape Division, Cape Town will hear an urgent application brought by Liberty Fighters Network (LFN) against the Democratic Alliance (DA) run City of Cape Town, CapeNature and SANParks under case number 2026-024184.

At stake is not simply baboon management — but the legality, transparency and traceability of the Final Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Action Plan. LFN contends that irreversible implementation steps cannot proceed without clearly identified, lawfully authorised administrative decisions capable of judicial scrutiny. After the City and CapeNature refused to support a remote hearing, the matter will now be heard in open court. Members of the public are invited to attend.