13/08/2026
In Loving Memory of Steve Smit: Founder of Monkey Helpline
SanWild extends our heartfelt condolences to Carol, Steveโs family, the Monkey Helpline team, and everyone who knew and loved him.
Although we did not know Steve personally, we deeply respect him as an icon in animal protection..someone who dedicated his life to standing up for animals and having the courage to fight for what he believed was right.
Those of us who share a passion for protecting animals and wildlife must stand together, honour one another, and uplift those who dedicate their lives to making a difference. There is no room for division when we are all fighting for the same cause. Every individual who has the courage to speak up, take a stand and protect those who cannot protect themselves deserves our respect and support.
Steve was one of those individuals, and his contribution to animal protection will not be forgotten.
Rest in peace, Steve. ๐ค๐
Your legacy will live on through the lives you fought to protect.
To honour Steveโs legacy and support the continuing work of Monkey Helpline:
www.monkeyhelpline.co.za
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ ๐๐๐
๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
It is with profound sadness that ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ marks the passing of ๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ, founder of Monkey Helpline and one of South Africaโs most dedicated animal-protection advocates.
Some people speak about compassion.
๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญ.
He went wherever an animal needed him, challenged cruelty even when doing so was difficult or unpopular, and helped people understand that peaceful coexistence with wildlife is not an impossible ideal.
๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ฅ.
In 1995, Steve founded ๐๐จ๐ง๐ค๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐, beginning what would become more than three decades of committed service to KwaZulu-Natalโs vervet monkeys.
Together with his partner and Monkey Helpline co-founder, ๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ก, Steve built far more than a rescue organisation. They created a lifeline for injured, orphaned and persecuted vervets, and a bridge of understanding between people and the wildlife with whom we share our communities.
๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
For Toni V Brockhoven Chairperson of Beauty Without Cruelty South Africa, this loss carries a deeply personal memory.
Toni recalls meeting Steve in KwaZulu-Natal many years ago, during an early period of growth for Fryโs Family Foods. She had travelled there to meet Steve and members of the Fry family. Their conversations moved beyond organisations and business into life, the universe and the future they hoped to help create.
โSteve was an incredible man. He was incredibly gentle and totally committed to animal lives and to educating people about how we should live in harmony and coexist, because coexistence is possible.
โHe had such extraordinary empathy for all life. His passing is not only a loss to the animal-protection community. It is a loss to South Africa and to the world.
โI am absolutely heartbroken that Steve has died. I take some comfort in knowing that his final suffering was not prolonged, but his death remains a profound loss for all of us.โ
Those who met Steve encountered the same qualities Toni remembers: ๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ค๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ, ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฒ, and an unwavering willingness to act when another life was in danger.
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
At all hours of the day and night, Steve responded to animals injured by vehicles, dog attacks, electrocution, snares, poison, pellet guns, catapults, razor wire and other forms of human cruelty or conflict.
He met these emergencies with action: rescue, veterinary treatment, patient nursing, rehabilitation, release and, where returning to the wild was no longer possible, lifelong sanctuary care.
Monkey Helplineโs own records represent ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐,๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ-๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐,๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ฌ and hundreds of primates receiving rehabilitation or sanctuary care.
Yet Steveโs legacy cannot truly be measured in numbers.
Behind every statistic was a frightened animal carried to safety, an orphan given another chance, a wounded body treated with tenderness, a family taught how to coexist peacefully with wildlife, and an act of cruelty that Steve refused to ignore.
Steve once described this commitment in simple words:
โ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐๐๐ฒ. ๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฅ๐.โ
That was the truth of his life.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
Steveโs courage was not confined to rescue call-outs.
Through ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐, he entered some of the countryโs most difficult and contested animal-protection debates.
In 2009, Steve and Animal Rights Africa approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court seeking an interdict against the bare-handed killing of a bull during the Ukweshwama ceremony. They argued that the manner of killing constituted cruelty.
The court refused the application.
Steve expressed disappointment that the case had been interpreted by some as an attack on Zulu culture. He maintained that Animal Rights Africaโs concern was the suffering of the animal.
Whatever oneโs position on the judgment, Steveโs willingness to enter that difficult space reflected something central to his character:
๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ .
He was prepared to be misunderstood, criticised and opposed because animals could not enter a courtroom and speak for themselves.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Steve understood that lasting animal protection requires more than rescuing the individual in front of us.
It also requires changing the fear, misinformation and prejudice that placed that animal in danger.
He challenged the damaging belief that vervet monkeys are pests. He educated communities about their intelligence, behaviour, social relationships and right to exist within territories increasingly transformed by human development.
For Steve, education was not secondary to rescue.
๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
Every person taught to secure a home humanely, protect food responsibly, slow down for wildlife, restrain dogs or put away a pellet gun potentially prevented the next emergency call.
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
Even in September 2025, Steve was still going wherever compassion called him.
When three vervet monkeys became trapped aboard a cargo vessel offshore, Steve and fellow rescuer Daniel Stewart travelled by boat, boarded the ship and brought all three safely back to land.
It was an extraordinary rescue, but it also captured something essential about Steve.
๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ.
Steve did not ask whether an animal was important enough to save.
He acted because that animalโs life mattered.
๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
On behalf of ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐, we extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to ๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ, Steveโs children and family, the Monkey Helpline team, its volunteers and supporters, and the entire animal-protection community that loved and respected him.
To Carol and everyone who must now grieve while carrying this vital work forward, we honour your loss and stand beside you.
The animal-protection movement has lost a remarkable guardian, but what Steve built remains a living inheritance.
The vervet monkeys cannot write tributes to him.
Yet every rescued animal returned to its troop, every orphan who survived, every person who chose understanding over fear, and every life protected because Steve taught someone to see differently forms part of the memorial he leaves behind.
๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ๐๐. ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐๐.
May it live whenever an injured animal is helped.
Whenever cruelty is challenged.
Whenever fear is replaced by understanding.
Whenever coexistence is chosen over persecution.
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐.
Your work mattered.
Your life mattered.
The lives you saved matter.
The compassion you placed into this world will continue moving through it.
With love, respect and enduring gratitude,
๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐
To honour Steveโs legacy and support the continuing work of Monkey Helpline:
[www.monkeyhelpline.co.za](http://www.monkeyhelpline.co.za)
