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20 November 2006

Congratulations to Dr Mabunda on his Laureat Award

SANParks congratulates the Chief Executive, Dr David Mabunda, on his latest achievement.

Last Saturday Dr Mabunda received a Laureate Award from the University of Pretoria in the university’s 33rd Laureate Awards Ball which was held at the Rembrandt Hall (Pretoria University, Tshwane). In what has become characteristic in his meteoric rise in stature amongst peers in the academic, and conservation & tourism sectors, Dr Mabunda, along with ten others, impressed the judges to be chosen from a final list of 23 impressive entries for the prestigious award.

The program for the event described this prestigious event as follows:

“The Laureate Award is the highest award an alumnus or friend of the University of Pretoria can receive from fellow alumni.

This award has been presented to distinguished alumni and friends of UP since 1974. Any member of TuksAlumni may submit nominations for this award. The nominations are evaluated by the TuksAlumni Board according to set criteria.”

This is what was written of Dr Mabunda in the program:

“David obtained a PhD in Tourism Management from UP. He is currently Chief Executive Officer of South African national Parks. David was the first black director of the Kruger National Park. He has authored and co-authored several articles on education and land reform and recently authored chapters in two published books on the Kruger National Park. David’s most recent achievement is his appointment as President of the newly established Leadership for Conservation in Africa (LCA). The LCA is his brainchild and the result of his vision to create a platform for technical cooperation and information sharing for conservation agencies in Africa. This organization has roped in support of the private sector to promote conservation-led development in Africa for the benefit of protected areas.”

It is worth noting that amongst the 11 recipients of this year’s Laureate Awards was also the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi. It gives us great pleasure to have one of our own recognized in this fashion by outside stakeholders.