South African National Parks has announced new infrastructure and safety initiatives at its 21 parks ahead of the busy festive season, with the SANParks Festive Season Readiness Plan (SFSR) announced this week.
“The SFSR is a testament to our commitment to our guests' safety and enjoyment. It is designed to proactively identify potential public safety and service-delivery risks. Its primary goal is to mitigate these risks through strategic operational and resource planning, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for all visitors,” said Property Mokoena, Managing Executive for the Parks Division.
Table Mountain National Park is the second-busiest tourist attraction in the country after the V&A Waterfront. To increase safety this festive season, SANParks has introduced the Table Mountain National Park Volunteer Safety Services. Speaking at the Western Cape Government’s summer readiness seminar, Megan Taplin, TMNP Manager, said additional rangers had recently been added to the ranger corps. The park also has a Sea, Air and Mountain special operations team with a K9 unit that focuses on visitor safety and environmental crime like abalone poaching. This unit has received a commitment of R1,94 million for the training of 25 new recruits.
Tourism monitors would also be deployed across the park to be “eyes and ears” she said.
Taplin said the TMNP would be working closely with other partners such as the City of Cape Town and law enforcement to ensure safety on the mountain.
“We also have our fire teams ready, because this is not just tourist season, it’s fire season as well.” Last year there were 119 fires in the park with no loss of life, major injuries or loss of major infrastructure recorded.
The Kruger National Park will also implement a number of safety initiatives over the festive season, including an operational plan to be mobilised in partnership with the South African National Defence Force and the police until mid-January.
There will be numerous stop-and-search operations during this time. Mbombela traffic officials and SAPS members have also been co-opted to assist in the park over the peak season.
Victim support programmes are also already in place and SANParks said it was working closely with the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism and the Bushbuck Ridge Municipality’s Tourism Safety Forum. SANParks has also recently held meetings with consular representatives from the US, UK, Germany, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
These safety programmes will be supplemented with public awareness and communications campaigns for visitors to the park.
The Park has also received infrastructure upgrades, thanks to additional funding allocations made to SANParks. The Skukuza Rest Camp rondavels and the Wild Fig guesthouse have been refurbished and a cashless payment system has been introduced.
