Kruger National Park didn’t begin as a sanctuary. It began as a warning. In the late 1800s, South Africa’s wildlife was collapsing under relentless hunting, war, and the belief that nature was limitless. From the first, fragile proclamation of the Sabi Game Reserve in 1898 to the lonely patrols of its first warden, James Stevenson-Hamilton, this story traces how a wounded landscape slowly began to recover. Elephants returned where none had walked for decades. Lions reclaimed silent valleys. And against poaching, politics, and deep public scepticism, the idea of protecting wilderness took hold.

But Kruger’s story is not one of simple triumph. It is shaped by contradiction, by communities removed in the name of preservation, by changing ideas about predators as “vermin,” by scientific control and hard lessons learned through fire, flood, and loss. From colonial conquest to apartheid, from poaching wars to land restitution and transfrontier conservation, Kruger reflects South Africa’s own turbulent history. This episode explores how the park was made, what it cost, and why its greatest legacy is not perfection, but resilience - the ongoing choice to protect something wild, complicated, and deeply human.

A big thanks to SergePavkinMusic for providing the soundtrack. You can access his music library here:

https://www.youtube.com/@SergePavkinMusic/featured

To get in touch, see references and access additional media and content - visit:

https://www.morethanastory.co.za

Support the show

In November 2025, Johannesburg will host the first G20 Summit ever held on African soil. This episode traces the remarkable story behind that moment. From South Africa’s long journey out of apartheid isolation to Africa’s decades-long struggle for global representation, we follow the arc that led the world’s most powerful economies to gather in the heart of Gauteng.

We explore how the G20 was born out of crisis, how it evolved into a central forum of global governance, and why its future now depends on the rising influence of the Global South. As global tensions reshape international politics, Johannesburg becomes more than a venue, it becomes a symbol of a world undergoing profound change.

This is the story of power, history, and the shifting balance of global influence. And it begins before the motorcades arrive.

Also a big thanks to SergePavkinMusic for providing the soundtrack. You can access his music library here:

https://www.youtube.com/@SergePavkinMusic/featured

To get in touch, see references and access additional media and content - visit:

https://www.morethanastory.co.za

Support the show

A small Boer commando led by Jan Smuts plunges into the Cape Colony, surviving ambush, starvation, and a brutal mountain storm before seizing a British camp in one of the war’s most daring raids. Through the eyes of Deneys Reitz, this episode reveals the grit, tragedy, and unexpected humanity that shaped the guerrilla war.

Also a big thanks to SergePavkinMusic for providing the soundtrack. You can access his music library here:

https://www.youtube.com/@SergePavkinMusic/featured

To get in touch, see references and access additional media and content - visit:

https://www.morethanastory.co.za

Support the show