Cyril Ramaphosa pays R3.5m for ‘no-fuss, no-hassle’ Boran bull

President Cyril Ramaphosa has set a record for the highest price paid for a Boran bull, at Hurwitz Farming’s ninth production auction.

According to African Farming, Ramaphosa paid R3.5m for the BH 18 490 Jester bull at the weekend. The animal will join Ramaphosa’s Ntaba Nyoni Boran stud near Badplaas in Mpumalanga. 

The previous record price for a Boran bull was R2.3m. It was bought by the Cuturi family from Zambia, according to Farmers Weekly.

Another record was 12 semen straws of Boran bull GF 10 23 Picasso sold for R88,000 each. The buyer was Sinyo Borans from Zimbabwe.

The highest price for a cow at the auction was R450,000 for BH 18 35 Dianna with a calf. The buyer was Mutanda Farms from Zambia.

Cows and calves had an average price of R403,438, with two cows and a calf sold together for R800,000 to Paul de Wet of Green Valley Boran in Kestell, Free State.

De Wet also paid R400,000 for sisters BH 20 538 and BH 20 461. The average price was R177,611.

What makes Boran bulls so expensive?

Speaking on Cape Talk, Simeon Hurwitz of Hurwitz Farming said Boran bulls’ genetics were highly sought after, while their semen could be stored in flasks for breeding purposes. Boran bulls were a “no-fuss, no-hassle breed”.

According to the cattle site, a Boran is not a synthetic or compound breed that has been crossbred in the past few decades. 

“It has been bred as a pure breed for 1,300 years. The importance of this to the commercial breeder is the Boran will have much stronger hybrid vigour than modern compound breeds.”

This is not the first time Ramaphosa has made headlines for splurging on bulls. In 2022, he put 72 cows up for auction, including 16 prized Ankole cows, for R2.1m.

His brother-in-law, Patrice Motsepe, parted ways with R4.7m for four Ankole cows. The most expensive cost R2.1m.

The Ankole breed is renowned for its lean meat and excellent milk quality, making it the most sought-after dual breed. They have majestic, ivory-like horns that point to the sky and come in various shapes and sizes.

In his coffee table book Cattle of the Ages, Ramaphosa said his love for the cows ran deep and was to fulfil his father’s legacy and instil a new pride for South Africans in these remarkable cattle.

“They each had long, white, beautiful horns glinting in the African sun, and I suddenly became fixated and couldn’t stop looking at them. I was intrigued and in awe and fell in love with these creatures immediately,” he said. 

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