OBITUARY
In Memoriam : David Grossman
24 / 06 / 49 – 22 / 10 / 21
Mike Peel , Richard Davies , Elly Grossman , with inserts from many friends
Dr David Grossman was born on 24 June 1949 , the older son of Phil and Fanny Grossman . Growing up in Sandringham , Johannesburg he completed his schooling at Northview High School , followed by the usual ninemonth stint in the army . He registered for a BSc at the University of the Witwatersrand , majoring in Botany and Zoology , going on to do an Honours year and graduating in 1971 . He excelled during these early years and his honours project was reworked into a published journal article . While at Wits , he was President of BioSoc and he met his future wife Elly , who he married in 1973 . His introduction to conservation followed when he was appointed a Nature Conservator in the then South West Africa Department of Nature Conservation where he got to grips with the basics of “ natuurbewaring ” as it was practised at that time . This experience stood him in great stead : throughout his career , he set out to explore fully any project he dealt with , to understand all facets of the project from top to bottom , be it environmental , social and human so as to gain a full understanding of the interacting complexities thereof .
On returning to Johannesburg , he completed a Masters degree ( cum laude ) under the legendary Jo Grunow at the University of Pretoria in 1981 . His topic dealt with herbaceous layer production in Burkea africana savanna . The study site was at Nylsvlei Provincial Nature Reserve , which became a vibrant research Mecca for postgraduates from far and wide . A PhD was completed in 1988 , on factors affecting ranching in the North West Transvaal , a piece of work that became ‘ recommended reading ’ for students studying ecology . The PhD concluded at Wits rounded his academic qualifications and a new career as a civil servant began .
With game ranching recognised as a bona fide agricultural land use by the Department of Agriculture , David was tasked with setting up the game ranching unit , with Derek Berliner , Dutliff Snyman and Mike Peel as the raw new recruits !! As Derek remembers on his first day at the old “ Departement Landbou ” how pleasantly surprise he was to find his new boss with ‘ a ring of beads around his neck , copper bangles around his wrist and desk full of journals and natural history books scattered over his desk ’ – definitely anti-establishment . This small unit developed into GAPRU ( Game Production Unit ) at the newly formed ARC Grassland Research Center where David mentored and nurtured among others Berliner , both the Dutliffs Snyman and Smith , Richard Davies , Mike and John Peel , Slang Viljoen , Johan Pauw , Sean Petit , Graeme Montagu , Daan Buijs and many others . We left that wonderful phase in our careers much the richer both as ecologists and hopefully as people for David having been part of our development .
All too soon , in 1990 David left the formal agricultural sector and began a highly successful consulting career . There is insufficient space to cover all of David ’ s projects but his work included game ranch assessments , working with provincial authorities including in the early days Bophuthatswana Parks ( now North-West ); in Namibia ( Huab to Breslau , Epupa Hydro-electric Dam construction project where Chief Kapika , senior chief in the impact zone of the dam , gave David his personal wooden head rest as a token of esteem for the way in which David conducted dealings with the chiefdom , WWF Annual technical report for Namibia with Greg Stuart-Hill ), Swaziland , Botswana ( Khama Rhino Sanctuary and a demonstration game ranch in Ghanzi ), Sabi Sabi , Peace Parks , the Lesotho Highlands Project , Mozambique ( as the first consultant to visit after the civil war ended working in Banhine , Zinave , Limpopo National Parks ), the Cradle of Humankind , Garden Route , Richtersveld and Kgalagadi National Parks , the list is long . With Eddie Koch , David investigated how nature conservation could be engaged for social justice and economic equality . They wrote a major paper on nature tourism and its contribution to the RDP for the South African Tourism Board ( Satour ) and produced the Background study to the South African White Paper on Tourism for Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism . David was a co-founder of Mafisa Research and Planning ( MAFISA ), which provides financial services to smallholder producers in the agriculture , forestry and fisheries sector .
Of his many international assignments , his collaboration with Michael Wells stands out . With Wells he produced among others an analysis of ‘ The economic and social contribution of protected areas in the new South Africa ’ for the Land and Agriculture Policy Centre , Johannesburg . David was part of the core team that evaluated the pioneering global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment , with field visits to Brazil and the Caribbean . He contributed South African case studies to evaluations of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund ( 2005 ) and of the NGO Flora and Fauna International ( 2016 ) and the midterm review of the C . A . P . E . Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development Project ( 2007 ). Michael describes David as the ideal evaluation partner : independent and principled , articulate , insightful , constructive , immensely knowledgeable , and never took himself or anyone in positions of authority too seriously .
Derek Hanekom , then Minister of Agriculture requested David with Phillipa Holden van Zyl to assess the KhomaniSan and their land reclamation venture , an estimated six month undertaking
41 Grassroots Vol 21 No 4 December 2021