Baboon skin worn as cultural totem sparks uproar

When Rhiba Kgawu draped himself in a baboon skin during a march in Bredasdorp in the Western Cape, he saw it as an expression of his cultural identity and connection to his clan totem. But the garment has now placed him at the centre of a dispute over culture, conservation and the laws governing the possession of wildlife products.

CapeNature told the Sunday Times this week that an inquiry docket was opened at Bredasdorp police station on Wednesday after complaints about the baboon skin worn by Kgawu, one of the leaders of the March and March movement.

CapeNature spokesperson Luke Folb said they were awaiting the transfer of the docket to the Swellendam endangered species and stock theft unit, which investigates environmental crimes.

Kgawu insists he has done nothing wrong and said he was unaware that complaints had been lodged against him.

“Don’t they know these skins are sold? My clan name is Mfene, so wearing baboon skin is part of my culture. Even at my place there is a baboon made of clay which sits on top of my roof,” he said.

We have Khoisan people who wear springbok skins; who threatens them with court? This is not about the baboon skin. It is their way of fighting the March and March movement. You can go to Bellville and you will find shops that sell animal skins—  Rhiba Kgawu

“We have Khoisan people who wear springbok skins; who threatens them with court? This is not about the baboon skin. It is their way of fighting the March and March movement. You can go to Bellville and you will find shops that sell animal skins,” he said.

The Bredasdorp Animal Anti-Cruelty League (AACL) said it had received several complaints from members of the public on the morning of the march.

The organisation’s Tina du Plessis said complainants were concerned about how the baboon had died as well as whether the skin had been legally acquired and possessed.

“The public was primarily concerned about the circumstances surrounding the death of the animal, but also about the legality of the acquisition and ownership of a protected species skin by the wearer,” Du Plessis said.

She said the AACL’s mandate under the Animals Protection Act was primarily to prevent cruelty and establish whether the animal had suffered.

“This instance relates to cultural use of animal products, which does not automatically make the possession legal, as the owner would still need to comply with any laws surrounding the possession and use of a protected species skin,” she said.

Folb said legislation requires a person wanting to keep the carcass of a wild animal to obtain a possession permit. An applicant must provide proof of legal origin showing that the animal was acquired lawfully and that the necessary permits and authorisations were in place.

He said CapeNature’s 2026 annual hunting notice lists a daily bag limit of one chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) “outside the Cape Peninsula”. A permit is required.

“With an annual hunting licence and in line with the annual hunting notice and the Nature Conservation Ordinance, you may possess the carcass, skin, meat [or] trophy of an animal that you have legally hunted,” Folb said.

The investigation has reignited a broader debate about the cultural use of animal skins and how traditional practices intersect with conservation laws.

It is annoying that we have to account to elements of settler communities about the animals that we lived with, lived off, healed ourselves from and from which we acquired our totems and elements of our identity.—  Chief Jongisilo Pokwana ka Menziwa

Chief Jongisilo Pokwana ka Menziwa, a traditional leader, oral historian and researcher, said indigenous communities should not be made to feel that their cultural practices were inherently criminal.

“It is annoying that we have to account to elements of settler communities about the animals that we lived with, lived off, healed ourselves from and from which we acquired our totems and elements of our identity,” he said.

Pokwana argued that wearing animal skins had long formed part of traditional regalia and should be distinguished from the illegal killing of protected wildlife.

“There is no law that prevents the wearing of animal skins; otherwise, we would all be arrested. In all my traditional regalia, I wear my leopard skin. I have one that I wear on my head, one around my wrist and a full skin that I wear at traditional events,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that the origin of an animal skin could become a legal issue.

“If you are caught and there is sufficient evidence that you killed this protected animal, then you will have to prove where you got it,” he said.

Pokwana pointed to markets such as Kwa Mai Mai in Johannesburg and traders in Durban where various animal skins are sold, saying their availability demonstrated how widespread the cultural and commercial use of skins remained.

Gcobani Ndzongana, chief leader of the Land Party, said his party would provide Kgawu with legal representation should the CapeNature investigation result in criminal charges.

“We can’t sit around when people are made victims,” Ndzongana said.