By Tendai Chisiri
EAST LONDON – One of the largest privately held conservation properties in the Eastern Cape has come to market, with Tyityaba Nature Reserve listed at an indicative R145 million, about USD 8.9 million.
Bass Property Group, the selling agent, announced the listing on 8 June 2026. The proclaimed reserve spans roughly 13,000 hectares on the Wild Coast, about 18 km inland from Kei Mouth.
Scale and setting
Tyityaba’s size is its headline feature. The reserve includes about 26 km of frontage along the Kei River and an 81 km perimeter. Terrain varies from rolling bushveld and valley grassland to riverine thicket, typical of the biodiverse Wild Coast region.
King Phalo Airport in East London, with direct flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town, is roughly an hour’s drive away. That gives road access to major centres while keeping the reserve’s remote character.
Wildlife and conservation status
As a gazetted proclaimed reserve under South African law, the land is tied to long-term conservation management. That designation has drawn growing investor interest in protected land, Bass Property Group noted.
Game includes buffalo, giraffe, leopard, zebra, blue wildebeest, eland and impala. Spiral-horned antelope such as nyala, kudu and bushbuck are described as prolific. Birdlife is also abundant. The reserve has a record of regulated, quota-based wildlife use and established game populations, allowing a new owner to continue managed conservation without lengthy restocking.
Infrastructure
Facilities include a main lodge with eight en-suite bedrooms plus shared entertainment areas, an abattoir, workshop, and several farm dwellings that could house staff or be developed for guests. An airstrip on site would need upgrading but offers potential fly-in access alongside the road route from East London.
Sale structure and price
The land comprises 26 portions across five titles. Bass Property Group says it can be sold as a single holding or divided among several owners as a development.
“Tyityaba is a large landholding of a kind that rarely comes to the open market in South Africa,” said Hanlie Bassingthwaighte, principal at Bass Property Group. “Its main strength is flexibility. It can work as a single-owner reserve or as the basis for a development shared among several owners.”
Joshua Bassingthwaighte, also a principal, attributed the R145 million indicative price to the property’s size, biodiversity and ownership options: “Twenty-six kilometres of river frontage and 13,000 hectares of established habitat take generations to form and cannot be recreated.”
Proclaimed reserves seldom change hands, making the listing a notable event in the regional property market. More details: http://www.BassPropertyGroup.co.za
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