National Parks Week lets all enter the KNP for free
The week is a world-wide campaign which gives people free access to national parks.
SANParks’ 14th annual National Parks Week (SANPW) started on September 8, and no day visitors’ fees will be applicable until September 15.
SANParks celebrates the week with partners Total South Africa and FNB, and has extended the week this year to include weekends, heeding the request from South Africans who do not have time to visit national parks during the week.
The week is a world-wide campaign which gives people free access to national parks. South Africans then have the opportunity to visit one of the 21 national parks for free, so for locals the Kruger National Park is a natural choice.
Since they started the programme in 2006, some 438 361 South Africans have been afforded the opportunity to enter national parks.
SANParks CEO, Fundisile Mketeni, officially opened SANPW 2019 at Bontebok National Park on September 8, and said, “This week is an opportunity to showcase all the national parks as key
and affordable local holiday destinations, which offer unique experiences that families and individuals from all backgrounds, cultures, lifestyles and communities can enjoy.”
Mketeni added that SANParks is committed to raising awareness about the importance of environmental education and the need to sustain the splendour of national parks. “As an organisation we have a Social Legacy Programme, which is part of SANParks initiatives to support the communities adjacent to the park by providing them with infrastructure and related resources in areas of education, health and other identified needs.
“SANParks continues to pledge its support for education through the provision of much-needed facilities, such as science laboratories that have been donated to no-fee-paying schools across the Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Western Cape provinces,” Mketeni said.
