Kruger Park Camps to be Scaled Down (4 September, 1996)

Some rest camps in the Kruger National Park are to be 'down-scaled' and a moratorium has been placed on any future development inside the Park's boundaries.

Speaking at a media briefing on a new elephant management policy for South Africa's flagship game reserve, National Parks Board (NPB) chief executive, Dr Robbie Robinson, said future rest camp development would be on or outside the borders of Kruger and 'there would be down-scaling on some existing camps.'

This was in line with the restructured NPB and its policy of community involvement.

'The Kruger National Park creates direct employment for about 4 000 people but it has spawned probably the largest tourism infrastructure in terms of private lodges and game reserves in Africa, when one looks at Mpumalanga and the Northern Province,' he said.

He would not be drawn on when possible closure and dismantling of any camps in Kruger would start and said the NPB Board of Trustees had taken the decision - 'probably the most important in its history' - to broaden the tourism sector to more people living and working in areas abutting Kruger.

This would add to the wilderness experience of Kruger for visitors while, at the same time, giving previously underprivileged people outside the park an opportunity to share in the tourism revenue of both provinces. Kim Helfrich, Courtesy of the Pretoria News, 4 September 1996.