Africa-Press – South-Africa. Tensions over the management of baboons in one of Cape Town’s poshest suburbs have seen a local magistrate’s court having to resolve a dispute between a resident and an activist.
The Wynberg Magistrate’s Court has granted the Constantia resident a protection order against baboon activist Gerry Higgs.
Higgs was alleged to have falsely accused Margo Winer and her husband, Justin Hyland, of shooting a young female chacma baboon on their property in March.
The application followed a confrontation outside Winer’s Constantia residence as Winer arrived home to find Higgs in her driveway. News24 previously reported that Winer claimed Higgs accused her of killing the baboon and threatened her, her family and her employees.
“Gerry Higgs approached me in a threatening manner as I returned home from a medical appointment. She began photographing me and my vehicle while shouting threats that she would post on social media that ‘You killed a baboon with a gun’, ‘You shot and killed a baboon’. ‘You know what’s going to happen to you when I post your identity and address on social media,'” Winer claimed in an affidavit.
At the time, Higgs denied the allegations of harassment, claiming: “It’s a lot of nonsense. I have never met the woman, nor ever spoken to her”.
Higgs has since clarified that statement, saying she had neither met nor spoken to Winer “prior to meeting her in her driveway on that day”.
Higgs claimed she was simply seeking permission for the baboon monitors to access the property to find and retrieve the baboon after one of the baboon monitors had reported seeing an armed man on the property before shots were fired about 30 minutes later.
In a supplementary affidavit, Winer claimed that “routinely our family or housekeeper walk in the garden with the [paintball] marker visible if the troop is heard”.
Winer said:
In a statement to News24, via attorney Marlise Burger of Slabbert Venter Yanoutsos Inc, Winer claimed that “Higgs proceeded to share these allegations widely to members of the press and other baboon protection advocacy groups, namely Baboon Watch WC and Baboon Matters. This action resulted in unmerited, defamatory and violence-inciting social media posts”.
“Several news publications, including the Daily Maverick, Constantiaberg Bulletin, IOL/Cape Argus and News24, relied on these unsubstantiated accusations in their reporting. The property location and Winer’s name and address were tied to accusations in the media.
“Whilst names were not mentioned in most of the publications, an inference can easily be drawn as to the general property location; Winer’s name and address were directly tied to these accusations,” read the statement.
Attorneys for the parties attempted mediation, but the mediation was unsuccessful, and Higgs was expected back in court on Monday, 22 May.
The protection order was then granted in default when Higgs failed to appear in court on that date.
Higgs remained adamant she didn’t make the statements or accusations alleged by Winer. She added she was unaware that she had to be in court because she believed an agreement had been reached through the mediation and her apology had been accepted in the mediation.
She said she would, nevertheless, not contest the order.
The order directs Higgs “not to engage in or attempt to engage in harassment of the applicant or her husband or their employees at their home in any way and/ or enlist the help of another person to do so”.
In April last year, the City of Cape Town withdrew the baboon monitors from the Constantia 2 troop.
Activists raised funds which were used to pay private rangers through the Baboon Matters Trust.
The City of Cape Town has since proposed extending the Urban Baboon Management Programme to the end of 2024, but without any indication whether the Constantia 2 troop will be included.
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