Authorities in the Republic of South Africa have definitively dismissed an appeal concerning the export of five giant baobab trees to Georgia, local publication Daily Maverick reports.
The article, headlined “The tree-loving Georgian billionaire, the Pretoria landscaper and the SA baobab export row,” suggests that the buyer behind the trees is Bidzina Ivanishvili. The case had previously been reported by the outlet OC Media.
According to the Daily Maverick, five ancient baobabs have spent nearly three months lying on the scorching asphalt of a parking lot owned by logistics company Africa Global Logistics (AGL) in the port city of Durban. The trees were uprooted in the Lephalale Local Municipality (Limpopo Province) without official authorization from either provincial or national authorities.
On 17 July 2026, South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) intercepted the shipment in Durban due to the absence of valid permits for the removal, transport, and export of the baobabs. On 31 July, authorities rejected the contractor’s attempt to secure a permit retroactively.
In September, the central figure in the case—Corne Mare, owner of the Pretoria-based firm Divine Landscapes (which markets itself as an expert in exporting “monstrously sized baobab trees”)—appeared before the Durban Magistrate’s Court, facing multiple criminal charges. On 27 October, the DFFE’s appeals administrator definitively rejected Mare’s appeal against the refusal to grant the permits. His defense maintains that the trees were acquired on private land with the landowners’ consent, rather than harvested from the wild. The next court hearing has been set for 15 January 2027.
Georgia is officially listed as the destination for the five baobabs in DFFE documentation. However, Corne Mare, through his legal counsel, has categorically refused to disclose the identity of the end client or the destination country, citing the confidentiality of the ongoing legal proceedings.
Official South African agencies have likewise declined to disclose the importer’s identity, citing the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Daily Maverick journalists submitted inquiries to Ivanishvili’s legal representatives, the Embassy of Georgia in Pretoria, and the Parliament of Georgia, but received no response.
Nevertheless, the South African investigative reporters point directly to links with the founder of the Georgian Dream party, noting that Ivanishvili is the only known collector whose scale and financial resources match logistics operations of this magnitude (freight costs alone for five trees of this size from South Africa to Georgia are estimated at a minimum of $40,000–$50,000, excluding inland transport).
The report also notes that the current South African controversy mirrors events in Kenya three years ago, when eight African baobabs were uprooted along the Kilifi coast for shipment to Ivanishvili. Kenyan President William Ruto initially halted the export, but the Kenya Forest Service eventually granted clearance.
Those trees were delivered to the Shekvetili Dendrological Park—Ivanishvili’s private 60-hectare arboretum on the Black Sea coast. However, within six to seven months of being planted in Georgian soil, all eight baobabs withered and died. User photos uploaded to Google Maps in 2024 show only bare trunks stripped of branches and foliage.
The author of the article suggests that the dead trees are now likely slated for replacement with fresh South African specimens.
According to expert Dr. Sarah Venter, founder of the Baobab Foundation, the baobabs uprooted in South Africa are estimated to be between 200 and 300 years old. The DFFE, in collaboration with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), is currently rushing to draft a rescue and replanting plan, as the trees’ prolonged horizontal exposure on hot asphalt poses a severe threat to their survival.