After a long wait and battle The Owl Orphanage in Velddrif has finally received its long-awaited permits.
Owing to new policies of CapeNature, The Owl Orphanage has been fighting a never-ending battle to get the permits needed to continue its work. Operating since 2018, The Owl Orphanage has rehabilitated many birds of prey and blue cranes.
In a previous article (“Bird sanctuary in Velddrif at wits’ end about permit issues”, Weslander, 24 July 2025), Founder Jacques Nel said the policies affecting it concerned his not being a master falconer.
This prevented him from “lawfully” rehabilitating birds of prey. “This has never been a problem before, and we have received lots of input from experts and have spoken to many stakeholders throughout the country who have agreed that one doesn’t have to be a master falconer to rehabilitate birds of prey successfully.
On receiving the permits on Monday 3 November Nel said he felt relieved. “Not knowing what the outcome would be held us back. Sadly many businesses and institutions needed an updated permit before they could help with funding so we lost a lot of funding and such opportunities.”
Nel added their first step was to share the permits with the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals so they could start taking birds in again from them. “Due to a lack of renewal permits we lost many birds, because every institution has their own rules and regulations. Our second step is to rebuild the confidence with the public with the idea that we work closely with the SPCA branches and that these birds, where possible will come to our centre. Lastly, we will focus on fundraising to make up for funds lost.”
Should they have not received their permits Nel said he feared The Owl Orphanage would have to close its doors. “We would have had to close our doors and there would not have been a place for compromised birds to go too. This is the reason we endured and kept the fight for our permits up.” He said when members of the public bring birds to The Owl Orphanage and see that the bird cannot be rehabilitated he refers them to the SPCA or a vet and that every case is on merit.
Luke Folb, a spokesperson for CapeNature, said all applications undergo the necessary technical and compliance reviews to ensure full alignment with legislative and permitting requirements. “The Owl Orphanage may operate according to the stipulated permit issued.”
Aletta Kleynhans, a resident of St Helena Bay and a nature and animal lover, said the Owl Orphanage has played a big role on the West Coast.
“It has enough space, knowledge and skill to take care of these birds of prey. Without it the animals are the ones that will suffer. We need to think of the future protection of our animals.”
