Location 

Friends of Skuilkrans (FoS) assists in the maintenance and management of three nature areas belonging to the City of Tshwane Municipality, Pretoria, South Africa: Skuilkrans Kopje, Moreleta@Skuilkrans and Meyerspark Bird Sanctuary. These municipal lands are zoned as public open space and are managed as conservation areas. 

The Skuilkrans (Friends) Association is an approved Public Benefit Organisation (#930035546) that provides support and assistance to Tshwane Nature Conservation and this partnership jointly takes management decisions relating to the areas.

Join
We would love your support, be it financial, physical labour, management & advice, or just enjoying the nature areas and spreading the word about them.

Annual membership fee: R220 per household (2025)

Friends of Skuilkrans membership provides access to the well-secured Skuilkrans Kopje and Moreleta River areas.  Your contribution allows us to spend resources to improve these spaces.  In addition, this fee includes the generous City of Tshwane benefit of six vouchers per year for up to four people to enter any of the following Nature Reserves: 

• Rietvlei, 

• Groenkloof, 

• Faerie Glen,

• Wonderboom.  

There is also an active WhatsApp group to share sightings and other relevant nature information.

APPLY NOW: Please join our Friends group by completing the Membership form (annually)

Contact Details

Contact us via email: friends@Skuilkrans.org.za or via the phone numbers listed on the Kopje gate.

 Properties

The Skuilkrans Kopje is located in Tshwane on the boundary between the suburbs of Meyerspark to the north and Murrayfield to the south. Historically, it was the boundary between Meyer’s farm and Murray’s farm, and the original dry-stone wall between the two properties is still visible. The Kopje is bounded by Grace Ave to the south, Trevor Street to the east, Emmarentia Street to the north and Nina Street to the west. The entire Kopje, except for a portion down to Grace Ave and a portion onto Trevor Street, is fully surrounded by residential properties. The two areas that extend to roads are fully fenced with permanently locked gates. A small servitude on the north-west corner of the Kopje has been incorporated into the adjacent property, though still legally part of the Kopje.

The kopje is approximately 9 ha in extent.

The Meyerspark Bird Sanctuary is situated along the banks of the Moreleta River (Spruit) in Meyerspark, Pretoria. To the west lies the suburb of Silverton. To the east lies the suburb of Meyerspark. In the south, the boundary is Watermeyer Street and in the north Pretoria Road.

Moreleta@Skuilkrans was the latest area to be incorporated into the portfolio of Friends of Skuilkrans. It stretches along the Moreleta River from the N4 highway to the Watermeyer Street bridge. The area connects the Meyerspark Bird Sanctuary and, as part of Adopt Moreletaspruit, forms a green belt of approximately 20 km through the city.

Gallery

Please browse through these photos to take a quick look at what these areas offer the public.

• Organised walks

• Organised hacks

• Fauna & flora

• Alien invasive plants

• Bridge art

• Committee & AGM

• Old aerial photos (1939 - 2001)

The two Moreleta River properties have 1 or 2 trails along or above the river for variety.  

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1ET7ASMIhMJKbqyvwCPTtriAaOi1ELBo

WESSA Affiliation

Friends of Skuilkrans is affiliated with WESSA, the Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa, as are all Friends groups across the city.  WESSA provides invaluable guidelines, training and support and we liaise with all Friends groups regularly.  

You may want to visit some of the other Friends groups in our city to explore other beautiful areas (expand the left sidebar or click on any green area for their contact details):

We naturally belong to Adopt Moreletaspruit, working together to build the city stream into a healthy and valuable nature area that adds to the quality of life for the surrounding population.

Recently, in August 2024, at one of these Friends gatherings, Tshwane Nature Conservation recognised our Friends of Skuilkrans as having the largest membership for a small nature area. We must be doing something right!

Access Control 

The flagship Skuilkrans Kopje is by far the most popular place to go for an early morning or evening stroll and is secured by fencing and neighbouring properties.  Access is only provided from the Trevor Street entrance by means of an electronic lock that works with members’ registered cell phone numbers and does not allow access at night.  We appreciate the permanent power sponsored by a neighbouring Friend, Peter Velcich.  It also allows the committee to see who uses the Kopje the most (Dennis Velcich – twice every day!) 

The two river properties are secured by a standard padlock, for which members (only) can purchase a key for a nominal amount after completing an application form. When the padlocks are replaced for whatever reason, a new key will be provided upon the return of the old one.

Alien Invasives
A big part of Friends of Skuilkrans’ mandate is to eradicate or control alien invasive plant species that take root in the fertile soil.  Their seeds often blow in on the wind from neighbouring properties, spread from the shoes of visitors, or are washed down the Moreleta River.  If left alone, the invaders will quickly dominate the ecosystem and reduce biodiversity.  We make an effort to educate members about different categories of invasives and how to control them. We have monthly hacks to target troublesome areas on the properties, where members can come and volunteer or simply support those people getting their hands dirty.  Membership fees are mostly used to pay local labourers to do a large portion of the work while they learn about the problems of, and how to identify, the worst invasive species.

Bush Thinning

The committee has approached the Department of Agriculture and SANBI to investigate and recommend a method to implement bush thinning on parts of the Kopje. We found that some plant species (e.g. the Sand Olive and the Small-leaved Fluff-bush) encroach on the remaining grasslands. This has also had a negative effect on the Pretoriensis aloes, many of which are possibly under pressure as a result of too much shade.

Walks 

The Kopje has a well-mapped network of paths allowing a myriad of different walks to be done, and the two river properties have 1 or 2 trails along the river, and another higher above the river, for variety.  There are over 30 tagged trees on the Kopje that you can navigate to and learn more about - see the Maps section above.

The Friends organise regular walks traversing all three properties to introduce members to the different ecosystems.  As part of Adopt Moreletaspruit, we annually participate in the 10 km river walk from Moreleta Nature Reserve down to the Pioneer Museum, eagerly showing off our portion of this urban riverine system.

Education
Part of our mandate is to support educational tours, and we regularly engage with our local primary school, Laerskool Skuilkrans, where we have scholars enjoying a day out of the classroom.  Local Scout and Voortrekker groups are also welcome to explore “the wilderness” in our backyards.  In addition, we support university and SANBI researchers who regularly do plant surveys on the properties.

Permission for special activities

As is the case for all City of Tshwane venues, please apply for permission for photo shoots and other group activities (more than 10 people) at least 1 week in advance.

Please note that no glitter is allowed for photo shoots.  You will be heavily fined - sorry.

Sponsorship

The funds from the annual membership fees does not permit much more than basic maintenance to be performed.  We are fortunate to have benefited from some larger donations (USD 2500 from the Ford Motor Company in 2013, and more recently, amounts of more than R1000 from anonymous individuals) which allows for more ambitious projects to be undertaken, such as the removal of historic building rubble from the Kopje or the repairing of fences.  Any donation is welcome, even an extra R100 with your annual membership fee, will be put to good use at Skuilkrans.

To give recognition to our sponsors, sponsorship boards will be erected in the near future. If this appeals to you or your business, please get in touch with us via email.

Committee
The Friends of Skuilkrans committee is active and passionate about preserving and rehabilitating its three focus areas.  It is elected annually at the AGM normally held in about February each year.  If you would like to get more involved, please contact us via email, or you are welcome to join our quarterly meetings which are very relaxed and social, where we discuss the next priorities and initiatives.  

The committee reports back to Tshwane Nature Conservation monthly.

Documents

Please find the most recent constitution and by-laws below, as well as the City of Tshwane application forms.  Also included is the large poster displayed at the entrance gate.

APPLY NOW: Please join our Friends group by completing the Membership form (annually)