News

The Kruger National Park’s HOD: Public Relations Mr William Mabasa today (Wednesday July 20, 2005) came out in favour of a zero tolerance approach to law enforcement in the world famous sanctuary.

“We back our traffic officials and rangers 100% when it comes to issuing fines for not abiding by our rules and regulations,” he said.

Mr Mabasa was reacting to an article on the front page of today’s Afrikaans daily newspaper Beeld, in which it was reported that an Ermelo man, a Mr Neil Bornman, was fined because his daughter was hanging out of the vehicle. Although Mr Bornman refuted this in the article, saying that his daughter was merely “pointing” at a giraffe, he chose to pay an admission of guilt fine instead of defending himself in court.

According to the National Parks Act, a person may not “alight from vehicle or protrude through open window, open door, open roof”. The admissible fine for such action is R500.

Dr Freek Venter, the KNP’s Head of Conservation Services explains why:

“A person hanging out of a vehicle is a dangerous situation and can easily result in that person being attacked. If the driver has to accelerate away because of a charging elephant, that person can also be thrown from the vehicle and, if the vehicle is moving, there is nothing to stop the person being thrown out if the driver has to suddenly stop the vehicle,” he said.

Dr Venter also said that because the animals in the KNP are not used to humans, they get frightened when they see people out of their cars and run away, which is also disconcerting for other visitors.

“It must be remembered that government legislation forces us to enforce the regulations of the KNP as more than a million people visit the park every year and it is for their own safety,” he said.

The rules and regulations of the KNP are clearly stated on brown boards as you enter the park and at most main camp entrances. They are also printed on entrance permits.

“As on other occasions, we respectfully request all our visitors to adhere to the rules and regulations, not only because of the possibility that they could receive fines if they are caught, but also for their own safety,” Mr Mabasa concludes.

“¦ Ends

Issued by:
Raymond Travers
Media Relations Practitioner
Kruger National Park
Tel: 013 735 4116
Cell: 082 908 2677
E-mail

Enquiries:
William Mabasa
HOD: Public Relations and Communications
Kruger National Park
Tel: 013 735 4363
Cell: 082 807 3919
E-mail