Dion George says he is taking a big, bold step -- putting the wild, frigid seventh continent at the heart of the country's agenda: 'It would be extremely short-sighted if we did not pay attention to it.'

Dion George says he is taking a big, bold step -- putting the wild, frigid seventh continent at the heart of the country's agenda: 'It would be extremely short-sighted if we did not pay attention to it.'

South Africa has maintained a presence on Earth's southern frontier since becoming the second country to ratify the Antarctic Treaty -- symbolically, it did so during the 1960 winter solstice.

This year, the country celebrates seven decades since the South African meteorologist Hannes la Grange became the first African to set a snow boot on Antarctic ice as part of the seminal Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

In 2028, another date beckons: Seventy years since South Africa, through La Grange, reached the South Pole.

Political leadership has rarely afforded the region more than nominal attention.

That will change under his tenure, says Minister Dion George of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

"I am the head of the South African National Antarctic Programme," George told Daily Maverick on a ministerial demonstration cruise aboard the SA Agulhas II from Durban to Cape Town in May.

That is a statement no previous DFFE minister has made.

"I set the tone, I set...