General discussion on proposed hotels in KNP

[Lisbeth]

An article by Allan Eccles

Link : http://www.thegreentimes.co.za

Is Kruger Under Threat Of Hotels?

Plans to build a new development and two world-class hotels inside the Kruger National Park is now threatening one of South Africa’s most pristine locations. A pressure group called AIKONA (Against Interference in Kruger & other National Assets) was created by some members of the public and a concerned conservationist who are up in arms.
It is widely speculated that SANParks is to establish an upmarket hotel at Malelane in the Kruger National Park. It is said that guests will have 24 hour access to the Park, with an hourly shuttle service. This planned 220 bed hotel is to be built at the confluence of the Timfenhene Creek and the Crocodile River. It is aimed to provide more space for people visiting the Park, according to William Manasa HOD of Public Relations and Communications. Yet AIKONA sees it as commercialization and exploitation of the sacred National Park.
The Malelane Safari Resort (MSR) is planned to be built in a Wilderness Area as per a map compiled by W. van Riet, dated 1985. The area is still zoned as primitive, with a high biodiversity sensitivity rating as per the KNP Zoning Plan of 2006.

Current occupation rate only 40%

According to an inside source, the parking area for these vehicles will be inside the KNP across the Crocodile River, in full view of the guests on the deck of the Pestano Lodge.
Guests at the hotel will have all the facilities normally offered at a 4/5 star establishment and will be taken on game drives in open safari vehicles.
The cost is said to be R1500.00 pppn bed and breakfast. If you add on the other costs of meals, teas and drives these costs are comparable to that charged by the concessions in the Park. Ample accommodation is available in these lodges as their average occupation rate is 40%.
“The AIKONA group currently is a few members short of 300 and is against the commercialization and exploitation of our National Parks, which belong to the South African population - not to SANParks,” Allan Eccles, an official representative of AIKONA said.

Conservation seems no longer top priority

“SANParks are the appointed custodians of our heritage. It seems to me that conservation no longer appears to be a priority of the Board of SANParks. Moneymaking, tourism and profits seem to be occupying the front seat,” said Eccles.
“I am in possession of a document of SANParks which indicates that they are now planning a Peripheral Development Zone (PDZ) which runs within the borders two kilometres wide. This will be set aside for development and specifically makes mention of accommodation of up to 250 beds to be allowed for. This document was drawn up during September 2011 - again in secrecy with no public participation whatsoever,” he added.
Should this development zone be approved it will open the door to the other hotels in the KNP, which except for the one at Skukuza are being denied. The rumour is that six hotels are planned: The Malelane Safari Resort, Skukuza, The Orpen area, the Phalaborwa area, and numbers 5 and 6 further north. But HOD of SANParks Communications, William Mabasa denies this.

Clashes with government gazette

“This is not true. We are only planning two hotels. We cannot say by when the hotels will be built. Currently there are 22 hotels on the property, which stretches over 2 million hectares. We need to provide more space for people and tourists visiting the Park. The environmental impact studies for the first hotel has commenced. I don’t know when it will be completed, as it’s an independent process and depends on many factors,” said Mabasa.
Eccles believes that the PDZ plan is in direct conflict with the recent published Government Gazette, which makes mention of buffer zones. This is an area of a few kilometres wide where development is restricted around our National Parks.
“How can SANParks now even consider PDZs?” he asked.
Recent surveys done for SANParks by the Tourism and Leisure School of the North-West University indicated that 89% of the respondents indicated that the KNP should remain is it is, with no commercialization. They said they visit the National Parks for a nature experience.

Anti commercialisation and exploitation of nature

AIKONA says they will continue being supporters of the National Parks, but will also object to the commercialization and exploitation of the nature assets. If nothing is done to stop these ventures the KNP will turn into ‘just another holiday resort’.
“The Kruger is currently a Category 2 IUCN National Park (International Union for Conservation of Nature). If the hotels go ahead it could lose this international status, which will affect tourism to South Africa,” Eccles said.
Amongst AIKONA’s disquiets is SANParks failure to respond to their requests to open these plans for the proposed hotels to an open public debate.
“Dr David Mabunda, CEO of South Africa National Parks explains that the new vision of SANParks is “to connect to society.” This is based on the RSA Constitution, which he quotes as follows: ‘Everyone has a right to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that promote conservation; and secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources, while promoting justifiable economic and social development’.
“It doesn’t say anywhere in the Constitution that there shall be no development done in national parks or that there are certain groups or individuals who are not allowed to benefit from the existence of protected areas including national parks. I believe that Dr Mabunda has misinterpreted and misrepresented the essence of the clauses quoted from the Constitution and that they are, therefore, unfounded and misleading,” says Dr Salomon Joubert says, a former head warden of the Kruger National Park.

Interpretations of constitution misleading

Joubert says the Constitution rather endorses the wise counsel of old Chief Seattle when he cautioned that ‘we have not inherited this land from our fathers, we are merely borrowing it from our children’ and that it refers to our environment and the necessity to conserve it with the aim of retaining its vigour and viability while utilizing its renewable resources.
“Dr Mabunda quotes the Minister of Environmental Affairs as stating that our national parks are ‘hubs of economic development in our society’. If the inference is that national parks are intended to be hubs of economic development the legality of the statement needs to be seriously challenged. An earlier (1969) definition of a national park by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the current guidelines for Category II National Parks essentially make provision for areas set aside to preserve natural ecosystems in their most pristine state possible and where visitors are allowed to appreciate nature. The definitions, old and new, do not exclude tourism; neither do they dismiss the economic value of tourism. Both can be accommodated in national parks, but subject to the core value of preserving biodiversity (which includes wilderness) in its most pristine state possible,” he stated.
He says that hotels and extravagant facilities were shunned from the beginning, instead accommodation facilities – with basic essentials only - were provided to afford tourists the opportunity to visit the park. “This later developed into the philosophy that facilities should never be used as attractions to national parks and that the primary objective would remain the experience of nature in her most unspoilt state possible.”
“Dr Mabunda has tried to assure South Africans that SANParks will not over-develop the national parks. However, the proposed developments fly in the face of these reassurances. SANParks owes it to the people of South Africa to preserve the intrinsic values of our national parks in their unblemished state for the benefit of this and future generations.”

[Penga Ndlovu]

Surely even Mabunda can not be so naive to think that his hotels at R1500 PPPN are going to attract a huge number of South Africans to the parks, even he must be aware that only a few can afford this kind of thing. If he then goes and shuts down self drives, the only people who will go to Kruger are wealthy overseas people and I'm convinced this is his target. The drivel that he sprouts about "Black Diamonds" etc is nothing but a smoke screen which he uses to attempt to reach the masses making SanParks look like a shining light to the people of the world and attempts to make anyone in opposition racists and generally bad people.

To me it's all about value for money and although I hate to say it, I don't see the value in going to Kruger or other SA National Parks for that matter anymore. I get much more value by going to Botswana, Zim, Namibia or even Zambia. The wild life experience in those places is miles above our national parks. Sure, the getting there is a bit more difficult, but overall they are all still a better package in my opinion. If I am going to part with my hard earned money, I want to get good value all round.
Now I know everyone doesn't feel the same as I do, and that's great, but if I want to go to the "wild" I don't want to see thousands of other people in cars (so many behaving badly), developed camps (which are badly mantained), with restaurants & shops and kids riding bikes, being on top of your neighbour. I go to the other extreme where I want to be the only person within miles, no fenced camps etc. I know this is not for everyone, but that's for me. So I choose to do my annual overlanding thing where I can go to the kind of places I'm looking for and in SA they are sadly few and far between.

What we need to get through to people that sit on their hands is that if the re-zoning issue is passed by government, SanParks will have a license to develop the entire zone (ie. a 2 kilometer strip around the total border of Kruger) without ever having to get permission or approval from anyone again. No more EIA's, no more public participation, no more feedback, no more wild area.

Surprisingly enough, I don't actually have too much of a problem with an hotel in Skukuza, that place is stuffed already and except for the fact that it will just add more people and cars into an already overcrowded south, what happens within the City itself means little to me, but hotels dotted around the perimeter of the park, using up more pristine wilderness is like a knife in the gut.

When I made the same comment on SPF two years ago I got shot down immediately and my post removed within 2 seconds and got my last formal warning because " it was not true".

[Lisbeth]

iNdy, as you say and rightly so, there are lots of places around southern Africa that are wilder and better and you can have them for yourself, almost

For us poor Western Noses it is not that easy. First thing you need a 4x4, second you must camp, because if you stay in any kind of accomodation it is much more expensive than SA, especially Botswana. Third, going alone might not be too intelligent. So you see, it can get a bit complicated especially if you are on a budget

[Penga Ndlovu]

Sorry, but this is in Afrikaans.
Trying to find the English version though.

But the short story here is that we have a new, very bright, scientist here in South Africa.
She is also a minister. Edwa Molewa.

According to her there is no scientific evidence that the development of the hotels in Kruger will have a negative impacts on biodiversity or the ecosystems….this before the EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) have been conducted…..as far as I know, the scooping report for this assessment have not even been concluded.
What is the use of doing a EIA when you have such a knowledgeable “scientist” as the Minister?

Minister brei uit oor NKW-hotelle

Malelane-hotel gaan voort.

15 June 2012 | Aliche Bezuidenhout

MALALANE - Bouwerk aan die eerste van twee luukse hotelle in die Nasionale Krugerwildtuin (NKW) sal na beraming vroeg volgende jaar afskop na afloop van die omgewingsimpakstudie wat teen die einde van die jaar voltooi sal word.
So sê minister van waterwese en omgewingsake, me. Edna Molewa in antwoord op ‘n parlementêre vraag van die DA se skaduminister van omgewingsake, mnr. Gareth Morgan.


Sy het ook dié week aangekondig dat die beplande ontwikkelingsone in die deurgang tussen Suid-Afrika en Mosambiek goedgekeur is, wat ten doel het om toerisme en beleggings aan beide kante van die grens te bevorder, asook die geveg teen renosterstroping.

Vrae wat deur die DA aan die minister gestuur is rondom die beplande akkommodasie-ontwikkelings in die NKW sluit in hoeveel hotelle of lodges SANParke van plan is om in die wildtuin te bou tot die einde van die 2017/18 finansiële jaar, of daar ander ontwikkelings behalwe die Malelane en Skukuza-hotelle beplan word en die stand van sake rondom die beplande Malelane-hotel.


Volgens Molewa sluit die beplande uitbreidings gedurende die volgende vyf jaar die Malelane Safri Lodge en Skukuza Conference Lodge in, asook die Shangoni Lodge. Dit is egter onseker waar laasgenoemde opgerig sal word. Kleiner tentkampe word ook beplan vir Shingwedzi, Letaba, Talamati, Satara, Orpen en Berg-en-dal.


Wat betref die vordering van die Malelane Safari Lodge voorsien Molewa dat die omgewingsimpakstudie teen die einde van die jaar voltooi sal wees, en sou ‘n positiewe besluit gemaak word, bouwerk daarna sal begin.


Die ontwikkeling vorm deel van die wildtuin se kommersialiseringstrategie en teiken die sakesektor sowel as middelklas Suid-Afrikaners wat moderne fasiliteite verkies.
Volgens Molewa sal pryse beide plaaslike en oorsese markte akkommodeer.


"Die ontwikkeling sal tussen 600 en 700 werksgeleenthede verskaf, wat noodsaaklik is in die Laeveld waar tot 70% van die inwoners werkloos is," meen sy.


Die beplande hotelle word glo ondersteun deur 181 gemeenskappe wat bestaan uit ‘n beraamde drie miljoen mense, verskeie munisipaliteite, tradisionele instansies, en sakekamers, en sal addisionele inkomstes gegenereer vir bewaring.


"Daar is geen wetenskaplike bewyse dat hierdie ontwikkelings ‘n negatiewe impak op die wildtuin se biodiversiteit of ekosisteem sal hê nie," het Molewa bygevoeg. Volgens haar sal die Malelane Safari Lodge vanaf die Malelane-hek bestuur word, wat verkeer op paaie sal verminder. Die boustyl sal ook glo by die omgewing aanpas.

[iNdlovu]

Then join us on our AW Adventures Lis. Lets wait for the people who are on this years trip to give their feedback and you can then make up your mind whether you would like to do something like that.

[iNdlovu]

Is this woman totally nuts or does she live in a fairy tale world. Here she says the Malelane Safari Lodge will be managed from the Malelane gate and will reduce traffic on the roads.
BC, she's been smoking the Toti happy twig me thinks.

[Penga Ndlovu]

Is this woman totally nuts or does she live in a fairy tale world. Here she says the Malelane Safari Lodge will be managed from the Malelane gate and will reduce traffic on the roads.
BC, she's been smoking the Toti happy twig me thinks.

I think that it might be a silent wink with a sledgehammer that the self drive option will be terminated much quicker than we think.

[iNdlovu]

No way PN, without self drive, Kruger is dead and then all the other NP's will sink. Not even this regime would be that stupid unless it's their way of eradicating national parks to gain land for the masses

[Penga Ndlovu]

Think you have hit the hammer on the nail there bud.
We must consider the possibility that the realized they are fighting a loosing battle against the majority of the surrounding communities and are trying very hard for a way out.
Might seem a far fetched idea, but so were Jules Verne's books too and it all came out.

[Toko]

Surely even Mabunda can not be so naive to think that his hotels at R1500 PPPN are going to attract a huge number of South Africans to the parks, even he must be aware that only a few can afford this kind of thing. If he then goes and shuts down self drives, the only people who will go to Kruger are wealthy overseas people and I'm convinced this is his target.

SANParks strategy to focus on the market of Black visitors was not very successful

From the SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN FOR 2012/13 we learn that there is no growth:

Total Number Domestic Black Visitors
406,085 in 2009/10
385,000 in 2010/11
385,000 in 2011/12