Kruger National Park flooding to impact revenue, says SANParks

SANParks said the inaccessibility and damage to large parts of the Kruger National Park due to recent flooding will severely impact its revenue this year.

Already, visitor numbers are down when compared to last year.

Fourteen camps remain closed as officials begin to take stock of the damage, which is currently estimated at half a billion rand.

Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Willie Aucamp appealed to donors to support the recovery fund set up for rehabilitation.

Three new bridges between Skukuza and Lower Sabie are under construction after being washed away in the 2023 floods when the heavy rains struck again.

Six hundred people had to be evacuated at no cost to themselves at the height of the floods, while SANParks also relocated campers to chalets free of charge.

SANParks said just more than 24,000 visitors entered the park between 9 and 19 January, a decline of more than 40% over the previous year.

Aucamp said the impact of the flooding is far-reaching.

"The destruction of its tourism flagship Kruger National Park puts a severe strain on the sustainability of the entire network of SANParks," he said.

SANParks CEO Hapiloe Sello said drastic measures will be needed to restore damaged infrastructure and maintain visitor numbers.

"We pride ourselves as an entity that runs a very vibrant tourism business and very significant flows out of this tourism business," she said.

With a lot of infrastructure still under water, Sello said the extent of the damage is still to be determined.