After the the Dep. of Water Affairs and Forestry´s "Exit Strategy" is fully implemented, i.e. after 44.000 ha of pine trees (and  varies other trees) are cut, forestry in the Western Cape will come to an end, the only saw mill will be closed and ca. 1000 jobs will be lost, forever ! Already high timber prices will rise even further.

The Tokai and Cecilia forests were planted by SAFCOL, which was a 100% Government owned company.

However, the SAFCOL Board was asked to phase out its operations in the Western and Southern Cape and parts of the Eastern Cape in June 1999. Quote "government contended that these plantations were not economically viable as it had a return of less than 10cubic metre hectares a year. This issue was raised at Cabinet level, and in September  1993, Cabinet approved in principle to remove approximately 45000 ha of State owned plantation land from further commercial forestry production  under SAFCOL and to make the land available for conversion into other land uses..........."

Above strategy means the end of commercial forestry in the Western Cape. As a consequence, the management of Cape Saw Mill in Stellenbosch told us, the saw mill  will have to close down. More than 400 people will lose their job at the mill and ca. 600 people in forestry and timber processing industry will also be effected. Timber prices are rising, world wide and timber will have to be imported. However South Africa is already importing twice as many goods as it is exporting.

Maybe the forest was not economically viable because the Government was operating it ?