Property

You can buy an entire nature reserve in South Africa for R145 million with buffalo, leopards, and giraffes included

Kirsten Minnaar • 10 June 2026

Tyityaba Nature Reserve, a 13,000-hectare proclaimed conservation property on the Wild Coast, home to diverse wildlife and 26 kilometres of Kei River frontage, has been listed for sale at R145 million.

According to the selling agent, Bass Property Group, this is one of the largest privately held conservation properties in the Eastern Cape.

The property sits about 18 kilometres inland from Kei Mouth. It has status as a gazetted proclaimed reserve, a designation under South African law.

This ties the land to long-term conservation management and places it in a category of property that has drawn growing interest from investors seeking protected land.

Listings of this scale are uncommon, and proclaimed reserves seldom change hands, making the sale a notable event in the regional market.

Size is the reserve’s most distinguishing feature. It holds about 26 kilometres of frontage along the Kei River and a perimeter of roughly 81 kilometres.

The reserve includes rolling bushveld, riverine thicket and the open vistas typical of the Wild Coast, a region known for its biodiversity and its remoteness.

The varied terrain supports a mix of habitats, from valley grassland to dense thicket, that sustains the reserve’s wildlife through the seasons.

That remoteness is relative. King Phalo Airport in East London, which has direct flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town, is about an hour away by road.

This places the reserve within comfortable reach of major centres while preserving the seclusion that defines the Wild Coast.

The reserve is home to buffalo, giraffe, leopard, zebra, blue wildebeest, eland, and impala, along with a wide range of birdlife.

Populations of spiral-horned antelope, such as nyala, kudu and bushbuck, are prolific and well established on the reserve.

Tyityaba has a long record of regulated, quota-based wildlife use carried out within South Africa’s conservation framework.

Its established game populations would allow a new owner to continue managed conservation operations without a lengthy restocking period.

Twenty-six kilometres of river frontage and 13,000 hectares of established habitat take generations to form and cannot be recreated.

Impressive infrastructure

The reserve also boasts impressive infrastructure. The main lodge has eight en-suite bedrooms and shared entertainment areas.

The property also includes an abattoir and workshop, with several other farm dwellings spread across the holding that could house staff or be developed to accommodate guests.

An airstrip on site would need upgrading before it could be used, though it raises the possibility of fly-in access alongside the road route from East London.

Together, the existing buildings give a buyer a working base from which to operate or further develop the reserve.

The land comprises 26 portions across five titles. It can be bought as a single holding or, the agent said, divided among several owners as a development. That structure is part of what they expect will determine who comes forward.

“Tyityaba is a large landholding of a kind that rarely comes to the open market in South Africa,” said Bass Property Group principal Hanlie Bassingthwaighte.

“Its main strength is flexibility. It can work as a single-owner reserve or as the basis for a development shared among several owners.”

The reserve is listed at an indicative R145 million. The agent attributes the figure to the property’s size, biodiversity and the range of ownership options it allows.

“Twenty-six kilometres of river frontage and 13,000 hectares of established habitat take generations to form and cannot be recreated,” said another principal of the firm, Joshua Bassingthwaighte.