JOHANNESBURG — An Ankole heifer from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Ntaba Nyoni cattle farm has sold for a record R6.4 million (about Shs1.55 billion), setting a new South African record for a female animal across all cattle breeds.
The in-calf heifer, Queen Arusha (NANK23 001), was sold as Lot 20 at the Ntaba Nyoni & Friends auction held at Phala Phala near Bela-Bela in Limpopo on October 3.
The buyer was not publicly identified.
According to Farmer’s Weekly, Veilingswinkel Chief Operating Officer JP Smith confirmed that the sale was a record for a female animal across all cattle breeds in South Africa.
Queen Arusha is a full sister of Optimus Prime, an Ankole bull whose horns measure 68 inches. Her pedigree includes the Ankole bloodlines Tshinakaho and Akira, with Kovu further back in her lineage.
Her value is mainly linked to her breeding potential and genetics. As a pregnant stud heifer, she can produce offspring and her genetics can also be multiplied through technologies such as artificial insemination and embryo transfer.
The auction also attracted high prices for other Ankole breeding material.
Two sexed semen straws from Optimus Prime sold for R250,000 each (about Shs60 million each), also setting a South African record for sexed semen across cattle breeds. Ntaba Nyoni bought the two straws for R500,000.
In total, 37 semen straws were sold for R1.235 million, while 19 embryos brought in R1.445 million.
Ten bulls sold for a combined R2.75 million, with the highest-priced bull fetching R650,000. Eight other heifers averaged R482,500, with the highest selling for R900,000.
The auction generated R22.5 million (about Shs5.44 billion) in total turnover and attracted 120 registered buyers, with about 100 people attending in person.
The latest sale is far above previous high prices recorded for Ankole cattle at Ntaba Nyoni. An Ankole heifer from the farm sold for R2.1 million in 2022, while an Ankole cow with a heifer calf sold for R1.8 million in 2024, according to the Ankole Cattle Breeders’ Society of South Africa.
Ramaphosa developed an interest in Ankole cattle during a visit to Uganda in 2004. Ntaba Nyoni says it subsequently acquired 40 cows and three bulls from Uganda, with embryos from the animals later transferred to South Africa because of restrictions on importing live cattle.
The Ankole longhorn is indigenous to the Great Lakes region, including Uganda. In South Africa, the breed has developed into a specialist stud market in which breeders place high value on pedigree, horn characteristics and reproductive genetics.
Queen Arusha’s sale has now pushed that market to a new level: one Ankole heifer has been valued at about Shs1.55 billion.
