Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili tied to centuries-old baobabs seized in South Africa

Five protected baobab trees that South African authorities stopped from being shipped to Georgia remain stuck on a Durban parking lot, as a criminal case against the landscaper behind the export moves ahead and reporting points to Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili as the likely buyer.

The trees, which a baobab specialist estimates are 200 to 300 years old, were dug up in the Lephalale area of Limpopo province and seized on July 17 at a Durban warehouse run by Africa Global Logistics, before they could be loaded for Georgia. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment said the exporters did not hold valid permits to possess or export the trees, which are a specially protected species under South Africa's National Forests Act.

A retroactive permit application was rejected on July 31 because the matter was already under criminal investigation. The department's appeals administrator turned down a challenge to that decision on Oct. 27.

The landscaper and the buyer

Corne Mare, a Pretoria landscaper whose company is Divine Landscapes, appeared in the Durban Magistrate's Court in September on several criminal charges linked to the shipment. His case returns to court on Jan. 15. Mare has declined to name his client or the end destination, citing the legal proceedings. His defense says the trees were bought on private land with the owners' consent and were not taken from the wild. Offenses under the forests law carry a fine or up to three years in prison.

Department documents list Georgia as the declared destination, but officials have declined to identify the importer, citing South Africa's privacy law.

An investigation by Daily Maverick, published on Oct. 29, pointed to Ivanishvili as the buyer. The reporters said he is the only known collector whose scale and resources match an operation of this size, and estimated that shipping five trees of this size to Georgia would cost at least $40,000 to $50,000 in sea freight alone. Ivanishvili's lawyers, the Georgian embassy in Pretoria and Georgia's parliament did not respond to questions, and Ivanishvili has not commented publicly.

Africa Global Logistics said it acted only as the logistics provider and is not the owner, exporter or permit holder. "No criminal charges have been brought against AGL in connection with this matter," the company said. It said it stopped the shipment over concerns about its documents.

A collector of giant trees

Ivanishvili, Georgia's former prime minister and the founder of its ruling Georgian Dream party, has spent years transplanting giant trees from across Georgia and abroad to the Shekvetili Dendrological Park, a private arboretum of about 60 hectares on the country's Black Sea coast.

In 2022, eight baobabs were uprooted on Kenya's Kilifi coast for shipment to the park. Kenya's environment ministry revoked a permit in November 2022 after a public outcry and a parliamentary inquiry, but the trees were later cleared for export in February 2023. Georgian reports in 2024 said the Kenyan baobabs had died after planting, and the park hit back at opposition politicians who criticized it over the trees.

Ivanishvili built his fortune in Russia in the 1990s in banking and metals before returning to Georgia, where he led the government in 2012 and 2013. He has remained the country's most powerful political figure. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned him in December 2024, accusing him of undermining Georgia's democratic future for the benefit of Russia.

The five South African trees have now spent close to four months on hot asphalt at the logistics company's site. Botanists have warned that the exposure threatens their survival, and the environment department and the South African National Biodiversity Institute are drawing up a plan to rescue and replant them.