Riemvasmaak Area Excluded from Augrabies Falls National Park. (22 April, 1996)

Dr Dawie de Villiers, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, has officially approved the exclusion of a section of land described as Bokvasmaak Native Reserve, commonly known as Riemvasmaak, from the Augrabies Falls National Park. Riemvasmaak is situated north of the Augrabies Falls in the Division of Gordonia, Northern Cape Province, and covers an area of 70 928 ha. This portion of land has been excluded from the National Park in terms of section 2B(1) of the National Parks Act, 1976 (Act No 57 of 1976).

After an agreement was reached between the National Parks Board and the former South African Defence Force, the Riemvasmaak area was declared part of the Augrabies Falls National Park in July 1990. However, this agreement was cancelled in 1994 after the Commission on Restitution of Land recommended that this particular area be returned to its original owners, the Riemvasmaak community.

The South African National Defence Force, the Department of Public Works and the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs have raised no objections against this step. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Pretoria.