Following the recent attack on a group of four German tourists and subsequent fatal shooting of one of the group members earlier in the week, South African National Parks (SANParks) has urged tourists to utilise alternate entrance gates into the Kruger National Park.
SANParks Acting Chief Executive Officer, Hapiloe Sello said the organisation was disturbed and saddened by the recent spate of attacks on visitors en-route to the iconic national park particularly on the road leading to the Numbi Gate, south of the park.
She urged tourists with active and future bookings to use other entrance gates to the park and thanked the government and all South Africans for the outpouring of support following this tragic incident.
“We fully appreciate that this incident has brought a lot of apprehension to many of our loyal local and international visitors which could result in cancellations for planned visits to the park and surrounding areas. It is thus important for us to remind our loyal visitors that Kruger has a total of 10 gates which tourists can safely enter from,” said Sello.
According to Sello, there are five other entrances, namely, Paul Kruger, Phabeni and Orpen Gates through the R40 from White River, as well as Malelane and Crocodile Bridge through the N4 toll road towards Komatipoort in Mpumalanga province in the south of the park.
She added that visitors can also enter through Phalaborwa, Punda Maria or Pafuri in the north of the Park, and the Giriyondo Border Post allows access directly from Mozambique.
Sello said that with the tourism industry currently in the midst of a post Covid-19 recovery plan, such incidents undermine the marketing efforts of tourism stakeholders and called on law enforcement agencies to leave nothing to chance in bringing the perpetrators to book.
“We also urge members of the adjacent communities to the Kruger National Park to assist with any information that could lead to the arrests of the suspects,” added Sello.