Public management spend overtakes the privately funded fence's price within two years

Cumulative Peninsula-wide annual monitoring cost (public) vs proposed fence capital cost (private), R millions — 2026–2030

Public cost of proposed fence — capital fully privately funded

R90m

Public monitoring spend accumulated over five years at current rates

Cumulative public monitoring spend (R18m/year)

Fence capital cost — R30m (private funding)

R30m fence Private capital — zero public cost

The ten categories of objection

1 Insufficient suitable natural habitat Not enough lowland vegetation above Simon's Town to sustain excluded troops — primary stated reason (Oelofse; O'Riain)

2 Displacement into next unfenced suburb A fence may push troops toward Glencairn — though the removal plan itself requires rangers to stop Smitswinkel moving into the Simon's Town vacuum

3 Entrenched habituation to urban foraging Repeated management efforts failed to reduce time spent in Simon's Town; troops adept at breaking into homes and buildings

4 Terrain prevents effective exclusion City's contractor states a fence on this terrain is not buildable; proposed route follows ~8.3–10 km of existing firebreak

5 Further delay prolongs unacceptable harm Task team rejected consideration of the fence option, arguing ~2-year build time would extend harm to baboons and residents

6 Fence design not demonstrated at scale Expert panel rated fencing success as "linked to topography"; proposal first raised 2022, rejected during strategy development

7 High expenditure for expected failure R25m–R30m+ capital cost judged "too expensive relative to risk of failure" — versus the Kogelfontein enclosure actually built at a third of the price

8 Continuing public costs despite private funding Even with private capital, ongoing maintenance and staffed road openings would require public resources; City already committed to a three-year management budget covering all troops

9 Unresolved complications on Navy land SA Navy perimeter and Signal School would need baboon-proofing; baboons access dangerous materials inside naval buildings

10 Environmental authorisation and opposition Captivity permit not yet submitted as of 29 Sept 2026; Green Group Simonstown resigned from City's advisory group in protest; Simon's Town excluded from 2,200-bin Peninsula rollout

The proposed fence draws nothing from the public purse — private backers would cover the full R30m — yet authorities rejected it on cost grounds while committing R33m of public money to a three-year management plan. At R18m a year in monitoring alone, the public tab exceeds the fence's private capital cost before 2028, with no end date in sight.