South African National Parks (SANParks) has warned visitors to the Kruger National Park that they could be fined if they deliberately remove “no entry” signs, open closed roads and then become stranded.
In a statement on Wednesday, Kruger National Park management expressed concern about visitors disregarding road closures, removing “no entry” signs and becoming stuck on closed roads, which then requires emergency searches by rangers and other essential teams.
“SANParks acknowledges that while people’s lives are a priority in emergencies, guests who deliberately open closed roads and then become stuck may be fined in terms of the relevant regulations and held accountable for costs incurred during search and rescue operations.
“Not only is this a contravention of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003 (Act No. 57 of 2003), but it also misleads other visitors into using roads that have been illegally opened, putting all involved at great risk,” SANParks said.
SANParks said the situation has reached a point where the park is spending significant resources on search and rescue operations.
“Apart from the operational impact of fuel costs, road repairs, and the deployment of rangers and air services away from the conservation mandate, tourists driving on closed roads continue to worsen already damaged road infrastructure, increase maintenance costs and delay the reopening of roads after wet weather.
“In a typical missing-tourist incident, where the tourists’ location is unknown, a minimum of four ranger vehicles and eight rangers are deployed to search until the tourists are found. This significantly increases operational costs and places additional pressure on already limited resources,” SANParks said.
SANParks added that these actions also cause panic among staff at the camps expecting the guests, as well as among the guests’ family members, prompting reports that the affected guests are missing when they cannot be reached or have not arrived at their booked camp.
“Due to limited network coverage in the park, it is not always possible for guests or staff to contact anyone for assistance if they become stranded on some roads.
“Once a tourist is reported missing, the Mission Area Joint Operation Centre (MAJOC) begins a search by checking information from the camera detection system, alerting ranger sections and, depending on the findings, deploying the SANParks aircraft to assist in locating the missing guests,” SANParks said. -SAnews.gov.za
