The Kruger National Park may soon have another entrance

Despite dissatisfaction by some traditional leaders, plans to add another entrance to the Kruger National Park (KNP) are going ahead with infrastructure in the park already being built and role players saying the new gate could be a reality by the end of the financial year.

The head for Local Economic Development (LED) in the Greater Giyani Municipality (GGM), councillor Cedrick Baloyi, says that during the last meeting between stakeholders, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Fish Mahlalela, mandated a facilitation process with traditional leaders who are unhappy about the planned location of the entrance, that will be called Shangoni Gate.

“The final recommendation confirmed by the deputy minister is that the gate should be located in Muyexe village in the GGM.”

“We are expecting it to happen before the end of this financial year if it goes according to plan,” explained Baloyi.

He said infrastructure inside the KNP has already been built to cater for the opening of the gate.

“There is road construction and other infrastructure development underway to support the opening of this gate within the park. This gives us confidence that the gate will be built in our municipality at Muyexe village,” he stated.

Initially, some traditional leaders in Collins Chabane Municipality expressed their desire for the gate to be in Mtititi village. After several debates between stakeholders, it was however agreed that the gate should be in Muyexe village.

“Since the villages are adjacent to one another, we argued that the gate would benefit both municipalities if it was constructed at Muyexe,” explained Baloyi.

He said a feasibility study recommended Muyexe as the best place to locate the gate. Despite this, certain traditional leaders from Collins Chabane Municipality were not pleased.