Meet The Directors

ELMA BRITZ

Elma, now 70 something, has been an educator for 41 years – at tertiary, secondary and primary school levels. She has been an examiner for matric examinations and an external examiner for honors and masters students in music education at the University of Pretoria. Since 2009 she has been the Executive Officer of the South African Society of Music Teachers, and she acts as its director. She serves on the council of ISME National Affiliates (The International Society of Music Educators as national representative for South Africa).

During her tenure as an educator, she was a member of SAOU executive committee and acted as chairperson of a Standard Generating Body at SAQA for the GET phase.

Since 2005, she has been a member of The South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association wherein she enjoys Dedicated Hunter status. For a number of years she served on the committee of the Pretoria East Branch of SA Hunters and organised their courses for the Dedicated Hunter qualification.

Now retired, she is a founding member of The True Green Alliance, and is one of its five directors. She is P.A. to the TGA’s CEO. Her academic qualifications include: B.Ed (UP), M.Mus (Music Education) (UP) (Cum Laude), Higher Education Diploma, Diploma in Tertiary Education, Four Licentiates of Music (Unisa and Royal Schools of Music). She is fluent in Afrikaans and English and has a working knowledge of German and French.

ANNIE SPARG

Born in Pretoria, lived in the Transkei on a trading station called Nkumandeni, for 7 years and is now spending her time serving the community where she lives in Pretoria.

For the past 12 years he has been managing several companies’ social media marketing.

Annie also devoted 13 years of her life to politics. She held several leadership positions in the ACDP on National, Provincial and local levels and also served for 6 years as an ACDP  proportional Councillor in the Tshwane Metro. Annie is chairman of the Friends of Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary in Nieuw Muckelneuk, Pretoria and also again a Councillor in the City of Tshwane for the Freedom Front Plus.

 

 JOHN RANCE 

John Carter Rance, reached his three-score-and-ten years, was born in East London; raised in Alice and Stutterheim; educated at St Andrews College and Rhodes University in Grahamstown; and spent his life running the family saw milling, forestry and farming operations – together with his brother and sister. He has served as chairman of the National Sawmilling Association and retired from the timber business in 2013. He now operates a crop growing enterprise with community growers. He also owns an agro-processing factory and controls the family game farming operations in the Kei and Fish river valleys in the Eastern Cape. He has travelled the world widely on business; and extensively in Africa for fishing and hunting, and business research. He has passionately pursued marine and terrestrial conservation interests for the past 30 years. John is a firm believer that if one is to partake in any kind of consumptive living resource business or pastime – such as fishing and hunting – it must be done sustainably by ensuring that nature (or man) can replace that which has been consumed. He has been a disciple of Ron Thomson’s wildlife management teachings for many years. John was appointed a director of the TGA in January, and he holds the position of TGA’s President.

 

RON THOMSON

Ron Thomson, now in his eighties, has been working within and around Africa’s national parks and/or wildlife management systems for more than 60 years. For 24 of those years he was employed by the Rhodesian Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management. Important past posts held include Provincial Game Warden-in-charge Hwange National Park; Chief Nature Conservation Officer, Ciskei; and Director of the Bophuthatswana National Parks Board. He operated as a Professional Hunter for three years; and for the last 35 years he has been a full time author and wildlife journalist – investigating and reporting upon wildlife management affairs in Africa. He is a university-trained Field Ecologist (cum laude); a long time member of the Institute of Biology (London); and retired from being a Chartered Biologist for the European Union. He pioneered the capture of black rhinos in Rhodesia and led Rhodesia’s black rhino capture operations (1965 – 1970) capturing and translocating 140 rhinos. His “Big-Five” hunting experience is vast – making him one of Africa’s most experienced big game hunters alive today. He has published over 20 books and uncountable magazine articles – all about the principles and practices of wildlife management and big game hunting. He completed his seven volume big game hunting memoir book series.
His passion, today, is concerned with creating a better informed society – better informed, that is, about “best practice” wildlife management and the wise and sustainable utilization of our wild living resources for the benefit of mankind. He has a strong and passionate commitment to exposing the menace and iniquities of the animal rights doctrine. He is a founding member of the True Green Alliance (TGA) and, for the duration of 2016, he was its President. In January 2017 he was appointed CEO and is a member of the Sustainable Use Coalition (SUCo) exco. The TGA is affiliated to South Africa’s wildlife Industry insofar as it has undertaken to fight the industry’s battles to overcome pernicious opposition from the South African and international animal rights movement.