Petrus Janse van Rensburg, the man at the centre of viral videos showing alleged reckless driving inside the Kruger National Park (KNP), has claimed that no one from SANParks contacted him after the videos were shared online.

Janse van Rensburg said despite public claims that SANParks were searching for him, he had always been easy to reach, reports Lowvelder.

“Now the media makes it seem like SANParks were searching for me. My Instagram is public, my car registration is visible, and I gave my cellphone number at the gate. But none of them called me or asked me to account for what happened,” he said.

He added that if there was any investigation, SANParks should have contacted him directly.

Janse van Rensburg also claimed that before entering the park, he had emailed KNP officials to ask whether he could use his small Mercedes-Benz sports car inside the reserve, but allegedly received no response.

According to him, had officials replied, he would have used an SUV instead.

Addressing allegations that he crossed an abandoned bridge, Janse van Rensburg said the bridge was the only route leading to the camp he had booked.

He claimed several other vehicles had also used the same road.

“If I knew there was a damaged bridge, I would not have used my car. I would have brought a bigger vehicle,” he said.

He further explained that footage showing him outside his vehicle was recorded after the car became stuck.

“The reason why I was out of my car was because I wanted to inspect the vehicle. I also wanted to check how deep the water was before driving through it,” he said.

Janse van Rensburg denied claims that he was driving at excessive speed.

“There is no evidence that I was speeding because all the videos were taken and edited by me. I might have accelerated a little bit, but I kept to the speed most of the time,” he said.

Following widespread backlash online, Janse van Rensburg had released an apology video in which he acknowledged the criticism and expressed respect for SANParks.

“I fully understand why what I did created reaction, and I take all your concerns very seriously. From here on out, everything I do in the national parks will reflect the respect they deserve,” he said.

KNP’s general manager for communications, Rey Thakhuli, was unavailable for comment on whether the park had contacted Janse van Rensburg regarding the incident.

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