SANParks.org Forums

Hi all ...

I'm not sure if this was mentioned before .. but what I found useful to do at the gates is the following ..

Even for day visits .. book with reservations (that way you can guarantee your entry) ..

Secondly : Take a completed gate entry form (it takes 5 mins to complete and saves you a lot of time)
Here they are : Word Gate Entry Form
Adobe Gate Entry Form

I usually also have my Wild Card and ID ready ...

I know it can get busy at the gates ... that way my booking in process usually takes 5 minutes ... helping the line move quicker ..

KNP Spokesman asked me to please post this on his behalf as he is having interent problems this morning:

Dinkybird wrote on behalf of KNP Spokes person "We do re-evaluate gate quotas every now and then and, in all likelihood, they'll probably go down rather than up (especially in the South where there is too much congestion on the roads anyway).
In fact, this was one of the points made during the stakeholder engagement process (in other words, the public) of the KNP Management Plan."

Unfortunately the part of the KNP Management Plan that is being referred to is not available on the internet for scrutiny by the public and never has been.
In fact we were given the assurance by KNP Management that this had been addressed in draft 7, draft 4 was presented to the "public" on request basis only.

Statements like these make a lot of people out there ( in other words the public) shudder (especially in the south).
Statements like this should question the whole "stakeholder engagement process".

Reasons why we should have a problem with the statement.
1. It is not in the interest of tourism to the province of Mpumalanga to have these quota's tampered with or altered.
2. KNP is not an island and needs to function within the provincial and national tourism framework.
3. It is exactly due to attitudes (increased gate entrances for internationals and locals, daily conservation levies etc) like this that have contributed to tourism numbers to Mpumalanga dropping from the number 2 destination on the list to number 8 destination on the list.
Mpumalanga manages to beat only the Northern Province.(that in its self is scary)
4. It is not the mandate of SANParks to micromanage tourism numbers to and into the park, and even less so SANParks does not have the right to manage or to try and manage the tourism numbers to Mpumalanga. Even the Park director Mr Bandile Mkize has said in open meetings that Kruger wants to increase its numbers to 1,3 million visitors this year.

If we go back in history, we saw the apartheid regime try and manage people, "the homelands system", clearly that didn't work. People are not animals, and do not stay within fences, they vote with their feet, at the end of the day, money!

We must realise that Mpumalanga is not seen as a wildlife destination.
In an informal conversation the other day, the question was asked to those present around the table, where they would go for a wildlife experience, the answer came Botswana, and Kenya, and that was from people who work and reside in Mpumalanga and from various walks of life......

Huge amounts of money have been invested in Mpumalanga over the years, in infrastructure, hotels, B&B's, guest lodges, in wheels, in an airport, and of course not forgetting all the other support businesses etc. Do we now want to bite the hand that has fed us over the last 100 years?

The gates referred to are all in Mpumalanga, Orpen, Kruger, Phabeni, Numbi, Malelane, and Croc Bridge.
So sorry for you if you have invested in a weeks holiday accom (or heaven forbid a retirement home or business investment) down in Croc bridge, Malelane, Hazyview, you can drive your 2000 km's to KNP and still be stopped at the gate and in future if you get in be charged a higher levy because you are entering in the south.

This is also a way that KNP intend to change the visitors profile.
Currently 75% day visitors/ 25% overnight visitors and through the Management plan want to change this visitor profile to a 50/50 level.

It may seem as if I am carrying on and on, but Forumites have in the past said that this forum is a powerful one.
You may decide to ban me from the forum, or you may decide to actually take an interest in the KNP Management Plan, especially the lower level management plans, of which there are 17 or 19, not quite sure which figure is the true figure, as the KNP Management plan was still incomplete at the time, but a complete version, as presented to the minister, has never been in the public domain.

Hopefully this will get us all thinking?

Have you seen the national park in your areas Management Plan, and were you involved in the drafting of that one?

Hi Groovy

I just want to say at this point that although we might not agree on certain issues regarding the KNP, I appreciate your input and value your insight into tourism based on your experience in the industry.

I also appreciate the fact that you made yourself available to attend the stakeholder engagement meetings of the KNP Management Plan and made inputs to those meetings. However, it must be said that the goals of SANParks as an organisation and the goals of the industry of which you are a player are perhaps a little different. And that is exactly WHY the KNP had specific meetings regarding the tourism industry when we originally embarked on the KNP Management Plan process last year.

To All Forumites

I have approached the KNP Marketing Manager who was the project manager for the tourism asset assessment lower level plan of the KNP Management Plan and she has responded with the following:

Dear Forumites

As Project Manager for the KNP Tourism Programme that forms part of the KNP Management Plan, it seems as if this topic refers to a summary of the 10 objectives for the Tourism Programme to be completed in the next 5 years that are contained in the KNP Management Plan. This plan can be found at http://www.sanparks.org/conservation/pa ... kruger.pdf (Page 37 -39 - specifically the Access and Visitor Management headings). As Groovy points out, draft 4 of the Tourism Programme was tabled for stakeholder engagement and thoroughly discussed by all parties concerned. Recommendations gained from these engagement forums were then incorporated into the Tourism Programme which is currently awaiting approval by SANParks and thus can not be published in full on the Internet yet.

However, during presentations to internal and external stakeholders (including the likes of the Hazyview Tourism Association), it was reiterated that Kruger realises it has a visitor management challenge and needs to address it in the next 5 years. Various possible ways of addressing it was proposed, (including limiting day visitors and increasing overnight visitors, wild card changes, park and ride concepts etc.) but in principle it was decided that a visitor management investigation needs to be completed to guide the park in the right direction. Having said this we have employed architects already to redesign various entrance gates to accommodate an extra lane for either entry or exit. Construction on this should start in the latter part of this year to be completed end 2008 / beginning 2009. Should we by then decide to turn this into a Wild Card fast lane or something similar, the infrastructure will be ready.

The bottom line is Kruger has not decided yet on how to address the visitor management issue. All stakeholder concerns (as raised here again by Groovy) will be taken into account when we do. Pre-empting any possible future actions on the basis of draft suggestions serves no constructive purpose at the moment. I hope this clarifies the issue of the current Kruger stance on visitor management.

Rene Travers
Project Manager: KNP Tourism Programme

I hope that explains this situation and the way we are approaching it.

Kind regards
KNP Spokesman

All camps in Kruger and even Kgalagadi have their fare share of problems with animals being fed may it be intentionally or not.The north in Kruger has got just as much problems as the south (The south just have more Picnic spots and camps).

I have stopped numerous occasions at Timbavati picnic spot where the family of Bushbuck were grazing close to the Picnic spot. As on a cue they all start heading towards the tables when the food is packed out, even i have chased them off numerous times but they have adapted so that as soon as you turn your back they will make use of the opportunity and take something off the table. When it is to late to chase the animal off while he has your breakfast in his mouth you are not going to try and get it out as it would be more dangerous, what about ALL the birds that feed off the tables and people feeding them not only at Timbavati PS but all over the park. The rule that counts for one specie counts for all of them.

Unfortunately there is not enough man power to keep an eye on all the activity in the parks and even the Honorary rangers can not be everywhere, strange how we only see the problems when there is nobody with authority around to do their job but we don't hear about situations when they do their jobs.

We should rather do our part as nature lovers and speak to the people not adhering to the rules and if they do not listen (which happens frequently) take detail and forward it to the nearest section ranger/s.

I have only read some bits of this , BUT .

In my opinion , and concerning the buck at Timbavati , I have to start by saying that I have seen the staff feeding the bushbuck , so where did the problem start , and what example is being set ?
These seen to be little more than household pets to the staff there .

The buck there are also very pushy , and will take the food from your plate if they can , they literally come and beg for that food , no enticing is needed , although a person needs to not give in and feed them !

A person can ask themselves , how did the animal become a pest in the first place ?
Did humans get out there and go feed it , like hyena at a den who get fed by people in a car driving up there and feeding them (Big problem and I am not discussing the feeding of animals from vehicles out in the bush here at all) , and creating the association that vehicles are a food bringing device .
No they did not , they found the people .

So what about animals around camps and picnic spots , surely these animals where in the area already , and have simply found the best and easiest food source in that area ?
Baboons and monkeys in camps where obviously resident in the area , and came into the camps on there own .
The same as the badgers or civets in some camps , who encourages them to come about in the middle of the night knocking over dustbins ?
I am sure that some human never went about calling "badger badger , come here an look in the bin for food ".
The animal simply "survives" the same as every other species by finding the easiest way to survive around his home .

At the end of the day , what I am saying is , these animals found there own way into these areas , so how will a situation that is created simply by man being in an area get solved ?

Do we shoot all the offending animals , and wait a little for the next culprit to move into the area and do the same thing , before we shoot that also ?
Do we keep on saying the animals keep coming into the area because people feed them , when in fact they need to come there in the first place to get fed .
Would they go away if nobody fed them ?

I think a little tolerance is required on this issue , it is not a simple cut and dried case .

Hi all,

I am busy with a wonderful trip through the park, north to south. But I've really noticed a lot more people speeding.

And I can honestly say that EVERY SINGLE KNP vehicle I have seen has been speeding (and ofcourse the big delivery trucks etc, but that's always been the case).

I think there should be a crack-down on this if possible.
Its a bad example and of course its dangerous for the animals.

cheers,
Kimberly
KNP north to south Oct 20 - Nov 7

Here is the link.

Well done guys Just hope the zero tolerance is kept up -- it will make the whole Kruger experience more pleasurable for all

I am glad to see that there are the press releases coming out, which serve to indicate intent (hopefully).
It just reminds me of the last Christmas season, where we were up north, on the public holidays we saw people doing an estimated 100km/h + trying to exit the park from Shingwedzi less than an hour before closing. not just one vehicle, but dozens of them.

The impression one could get from reading the threads over the past year, and seeing comments is that the "threat of law enforcement" in the parks is much like many of the laws for the country.... the law is there, it is seldom enforced, and law breakers are even more seldom punished to the extent that it is a deterrence to the law breakers, and others who hear about it.

If we read on the website after the holidays that 128 people were caught seriously transgressing in the Parks (say more than 15% over speed limit etc.) , 28% were IMMEDIATELY ejected from the park, banned for 3 years, 35% were fined R20 000 each and banned for 2 years, 15% were fined R10 000 each and banned for a year, and 22% were jailed for 6 weeks, THEN most other people would begin to become VERY wary of any form of transgression. If the above score card was at each gate, and as people were checking into the Park at the gates, were shown the scorecard while the WildCard was being processed, it would surely make them think twice?

However, insignificant fines are not much use, verbal warnings are merely laughed at, and too many idiots get to boast around the fire place, up to their eye balls in drink, about how they did 100km/h or chased an elephant down the road etc.
But, when the same people tell in subdued tones, how they got whacked R20 000 and spent a week in the slammer, and cannot visit a National Park for 3 years....

To me the concept of law enforcement should not be that once a person gets caught, they regret their actions due to the punishment... but rather the FEAR of the impending punishment should prevent them from even contemplating breaking the law.

david

David, you have a very good point.
Research shows that rules are most effective when consequences are felt immediately and when there is a consistent application. The transgression needs to be linked directly to the consequences.
I would also like to see some kind of community service involved as well. I am always amazed at how many people cannot make the link between their behaviour and the possible consequences. A few hours in a trauma unit, or service picking up road kill might have some effect.
Then there is the dinkum sociopath who will only be convinced if he fears being caught.

I think this is a good initiative, and proves that public pressure can get results. However, (there's always a 'however), I was giving some thought to the enforcement and have a few concerns.

Are there enough qualified personnel to man the extra speed traps/road blocks. I remember reading somewhere that only qualified law officers could issue these fines.

I hope it is to be applied constructively, not, like speed trapping outside, as a money making activity. Protruding can be very subjective.

Do Camp personnel have the necessary authority, or will, to act against offenders. The recent case where the car was rolled whist racing near Lower Sabie springs to mind.

Is speeding more important than being a few minutes late at camp and not speeding. I was told by Rangers that it is better to be a few minutes late than risk hitting something as a result of speeding. Do the fines reflect this. I remember a light hearted comment somewhere that it would be cheaper to stay out all night than be late at a camp!


Can anyone point me to the list of fines for various offences committed inside the park that was posted some time ago.


I will be in Kruger over the New year period, as I am most years, and will be most interested to see the effects of this initiative. I really hope it has the desired effect.

Hi Forum Folks

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I will try and answer everyone's questions:
* Firstly, David (my old buddy) "a few fines"? Last Christmas over 600 fines were issued! We average around 400 per month for quiet months and over 600 per month for busy periods. In other words - PEOPLE DO GET FINED IN THE KNP!!!
* People are often escorted out of the park for various offences.
* No, only accredited law enforcement officers can issue fines. This is according to South African law. Tourism officials cannot issue fines unless they go on the relevant courses and with the current staff turnover in that department, I personally don't see any merit for this.
* The actual story with regards to that incident at Lower Sabie was that the proceedure of calling the ranger was not followed by the receptionist. I suspect he might have been intimidated as the drivers of the vehicle were standing in front of him at the time.
* We are currently fighting a court case where we confiscated someone's Wild Card for repeated offences and this judicial precedent will probably give us an indication whether we can place something like this on the cards (if you'll pardon the expression) or not. The offender is arguing that the park is a public access facility and he should be allowed to enter, no matter what his previous record is.

In closing, I would just like to get something off my chest regarding this issue. We as staff members are ALSO frustrated by the actions of some visitors. In undertaking my part - in accordance with the Code of Conduct - I have been insulted, sworn at, ridiculed, mocked and been the victim of some of the harshest words imaginable. But I, like my colleagues, continue to try and do our best in our powers when we see these incidents happen. I will admit, the law enforcers of the KNP are not perfect and we certainly do let some offenders through our fingers, but the fact of the matter is we are trying. Think a bit about Oom Corrie, Ben, Rogers, Dawie and the other traffic officials in uniform, manning their speed measuring devices in the hot sun every day and putting up with abuse all the time (rather than occasionally, like those of us who are office-bound). Please people, lets not slap these heroes of the KNP in the face. Rather support them any way you can. When last did you stop off and give Oom Corrie a nice cold Coke? When last did you stop and give Dawie a friendly greeting?

And when this forum is full of negativity, criticism and blatant slander of our efforts, it naturally has a tendancy to let those negative thoughts creep in. Please people, I beg you, try and continue encouraging us rather than slandering us and you'll see we'll be a lot more forthcoming with information on this forum.

Thank you.

Kind regards
KNP Spokesman

Well said, KNP Spokesman

We were so happy to see a speed trap north of Punda in Sept, that we stopped, congratulated the officers for doing a good job and gave them each a cold coke ! (after they had tried to wave us on as we were going so slowly !) They really appreciated the gesture.

These people really need our support for doing a thankless job. Even a thumbs up for their efforts as you drive past will probably make their day brighter !

Very few, I suspect, and I'm not saying whether I'm one of them. There are good reasons to wear seatbelts :

1. Animals can appear suddenly out of nowhere, even big ones like ellies, rhino and hippos.
2. Drivers, although driving slowly, often "drift" across the road because they are looking for game at the same time.
3. Because of early starts and heavy concentration, drivers can become drowsy by mid-morning, especially after a lekker breakfast.
4. We know there are speeders.
5. Its the law.