Cyber king douses threat of Cape wildfires
‘Wildfire time bomb’ turned into wilderness experience for underprivileged kids
● A South African-born cybersecurity billionaire has emerged as the “angel investor” who purchased a “condemned” Cape Town mountain peak to create a campsite haven for underprivileged children.
Peter Bauer co-founded Mimecast, the global cloud-based e-mail security company, in 2003. But since 2017 he has been providing educational shelter via a charitable foundation which has a new horizon — a wildlife education programme on a mountainside once considered a wildfire time bomb in Cape Town.
Bauer and his family have so far spent about R6m to have thick alien vegetation cleared from Glencairn ridge, sandwiched between the suburbs of Simon’s Town and Glencairn — a 90ha mountaintop plot some had dubbed “matchbox mountain”, fearing it may ignite. The vegetation has now been cut and awaits clearing, a process of controlled burns. The last time the ridge was extensively burnt, in 2000, some homes were destroyed.
Environmental stakeholders have praised Bauer and his team for the pioneering effort.
“He deserves a medal,” said Philip Prins, former Table Mountain National Park fire manager who now leads the Cape Peninsula Fire Protection Association, which was contracted to manage the clearing project. “We came on board in May 2022 and gave them a plan in terms of what we can do,” said Prins.
The project comes as a relief for local residents and authorities who viewed the property as a liability. For years it was owned by a foreign absentee owner who ignored legal directives to keep it clear of alien vegetation. It ran up an unpaid rates bill, was expropriated and sold at a public auction.
Bauer instructed his Cape Town business associate to put in a bid. He was the only bidder. “We didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into,” said Dave Froneman, director of the Cape Kids Foundation. “It was a little like the dog that caught the speeding car. We had to pay the [outstanding] rates and taxes — it was a bit of a wrangle.
“We thought this is a great place for us to take our kids, something we could develop to suit our purposes. Because one of the main things we want our kids to learn is that we need to be ecologically responsible. We need to take our environment seriously and we want our kids to learn that,” said Froneman.
The cost of clearing the land, according to sources familiar with the property, was the chief reason it was not incorporated into the Table Mountain National Park despite its 12ha patch of pristine fynbos. Bauer’s intention was to keep it in a pristine state for the benefit of those assisted by the foundation. Proposals included a campsite to facilitate a wilderness experience.
The project still faces challenges, notably the threat of fire spreading from an adjoining department of public works property infested with alien vegetation. A fire that started on public works land near Glen Marine last week jumped onto the Bauer property, igniting some wood stacks. Four helicopters were called in to contain the blaze.
Froneman tried unsuccessfully to lease the adjoining land to clear that too.
The Bauer property escaped a huge December wildfire that raged on either side of Glencairn ridge, destroying a swathe of mountainside above Simon’s Town and Noordhoek. Prins said it was a race against time to clear the wood piles.
Simon Liell-Cock, ward councillor for Simon’s Town, commended Froneman and his team for clearing the land. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s first prize ... they have cleared the property. They have done an incredible job, under very difficult circumstances.”
Felicity Purchase, a fellow councillor and Glencairn resident, said the area is already more fire-safe, despite the wood stacks. “At least there are now firebreaks around the stacks.”
Glencairn residents have since 2022 speculated about the identity of the property owner, with Bauer preferring to stay under the radar despite his high profile at Mimecast. Froneman said he “preferred to get on with things” and was not looking for the limelight, or credit for his outreach work. The Cape Kids Foundation employs 25 people and intends expanding into early childhood development.
Bauer’s profile on the Mimecast website says he was born and raised in South Africa, where he trained as a Microsoft systems engineer. “He moved to the UK where Mimecast was founded and then moved once more, to Boston, Massachusetts, in 2011.”
The Bauer alien clearing project remains a popular talking point, particularly in Glencairn Heights across the valley, where for several months residents watched work teams with chainsaws reclaim the mountainside. “It just shows what can be done if you put your mind to it,” said Liell-Cock.