James Weighton Reilly (nicknamed
Mickey), Ted Reilly’s
father, settled at Mlilwane in 1906 – this name,
meaning ‘little fire’, being derived from
the numerous fires started by lightning strikes on Mlilwane
hill. It was here that Mickey Reilly constructed the
quaintly colonial building (the main homestead) shortly
after the turn of the century, which is furnished with
the many antique pieces and artifacts from the family’s
fascinating history. He mined tin on Mlilwane, was the
largest employer of industrial labour in Swaziland for
many years and brought electricity to Swaziland. He was
known the locals as Machobane.
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| Ted Reilly - Like his father
Mickey, is known as "Machobane" |
Billie Wallis, formerly Reilly, came to Swaziland
in 1920 at the age of fifteen and married Mickey Reilly
in 1925. She was, for many years, the only white woman
between Mbabane and Manzini. Ted Reilly was born a
native to Mlilwane in 1938 and became Swaziland’s
pioneer conservationist.
The Reillys witnessed the disappearance of Swaziland’s
game and this had a profound impact on young Ted Reilly.
Between the rinderpest (or cattle plague) in 1896,
excessive hunting, the ‘wildebeest plague’ in
the 1930’s, poison traps, herbicides and insecticides,
and unenforced game laws, the slaughter and depletion
of Swaziland’s game and flora resulted to remnant
populations in some areas and totally disappeared from
others by the 1960’s. In less than a lifetime,
from a wildlife paradise, Swaziland’s faunal
wealth was reduced to the verge of extinction. The
last wild animal was seen on Mlilwane in 1959 and
something had to be done!
The only area available for a sanctuary was the Reilly’s
own 460 ha farm which was then a highly productive mixed
farming operation. Where the Rest Camp is now was a productive
mealie land and tin mining added substantially to revenues.
Having experiencing the spiritual values of wildlife,
and seeing its escalating destruction country-wide, Ted
Reilly decided to give up farming and turn over Mlilwane
to provide a sanctuary for at least some of the Kingdom’s
wild animals using limited personal resources and absolute
dedication.
A huge tree planting operation commenced, a wetland
system created (now known as the Hippo Pool), dams built,
a furrow opened out and aquatic plants established, even
dead tree stumps were planted for hole-nesting creatures.
Then indigenous animals of all descriptions were ‘hunted’ for – from
water scorpions, fishes, frogs and insects to whatever
large animals remained to be caught and brought to the
safety of Mlilwane. At this time, the Reilly’s
approached His Majesty, King Sobhuza II for game from
Hlane and that was the beginning of a long and very close
personal association with the king who showed total support
for Mlilwane and even donated animals from his own dwindling
herds. The early days of catching game for Mlilwane are
legendary and many tales, inevitably often exaggerated,
are still told around the campfire. The rest camp was
built on the 29th of November 1963 and opened to the
public and 2 hard years later, on the 7th of January
1966, Mlilwane was gazetted as a game sanctuary under
the agricultural act.
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| Liz Reilly |
In 1969, Mlilwane was entrusted to a non-profit making
trust, constituted for the benefit of the people and
wildlife of Swaziland. On the 1st of April 1977, Mlilwane
was proclaimed as a Nature Reserve under the newly
created Swaziland National Trust Commission act of
1972, as amended.
The commission also financed the ‘Hippo Haunt’ restaurant
in the camp.
Mlilwane has grown to 10 times it original size through
the support of the Monarchy, international support and
true individual dedication and is a favourite destination
for many people. Mlilwane has created entrenched conservation
ethics for the Kingdom and the Swazi people are appreciative
of all efforts at Nature conservation and have developed
a pride in the natural heritage of their kingdom.
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