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Ref:02/1/5/2
MINISTER
QUESTION NO. 507 FOR WRITTEN REPLY: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
A draft reply to Mr T Z Hadebe (DA) to the above-mentioned question is
enclosed for your consideration.
MS JUDY BEAUMONT
DIRECTOR-GENERAL (ACTING)
DATE:
DRAFT REPLY APPROVED/AMENDED
MRS B E E MOLEWA, MP
MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
DATE:
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
(For written reply)
QUESTION NO. 507 {NW530E}
INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 4 of 2016
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 26 February 2016
Mr T Z Hadebe (DA) to ask the Minister of Environmental Affairs:
(1) What steps have been taken to secure the fence of the Kruger National
Park;
(2) have the parkâs rangers been paid their performance bonuses (a) in
the (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15 financial years and (b) for the 2015-
16 financial year; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant
details; and
(3) to what extent does the local community benefit from the income
generated through tourism at the park? NW530E
507. THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS REPLIES:
(1) Various censors are currently being installed on some parts of the
perimeter fence to ensure early warning. The detail of such is
classified;
(2) (a) (i) and (ii) and (b) No, the employees in question are part of
the Bargaining Unit and therefore do not receive bonuses. However they
receive 13th cheques as part of their annual remuneration packages.
They received their 13th cheques for 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial
years; and
(3) when one talks about âlocal communitiesâ it is important to remember
that the Kruger National Park perimeter is heterogeneous both in terms
of land use as well as human densities, socio- economics and context.
The Kruger National Park perimeter is over 1000 km long (1017km),
approximately half of which is in South Africa. Sixty one percent of
the boundary is bordered by conservation related land use (the
remaining being agriculture, rural and urban settlements and a small
amount of industry). On the South African side the park straddles two
provinces (that is, Limpopo and Mpumalanga), three district
municipalities and seven local municipalities. There are 37
Traditional Councils representing approximately 240 villages and towns
in close proximity to the fence, comprising around 1 million people.
3.1 The 1.5 million tourists that visit the Kruger National Park
annually contribute towards approximately 80% of the parkâs
operating budget, paying for the bulk of salaries of the 2243
staff, 90% of whom come from the villages and towns adjacent to
it. Many of the staff is employed within the tourism sector.
Although not employed directly by the Kruger National Park, over
12 000 conservation related jobs within the greater Kruger
National Park are the direct result of employment through the
Expanded Public Works Programme. The concessionaires operate in
the park as well as in the adjacent private, communal and
provincial reserves most of which focus on the high end tourism
market.
3.2 Funding obtained from tourism contributes towards the
implementation of various initiatives aimed at local capacity
building through education and outreach, reaching on average 80
000 learners annually, most of which are from local schools.
3.3 In addition, tourists contribute directly to community
development projects in areas adjacent to the Kruger National
Park through a tourism fund of 1% that is ring fenced for
community projects. To date this has been used for funding of
local school infrastructure development including a state of the
art school administration facility, a well-stocked computer
centre and early childhood development play equipment.
3.4 Several small scale enterprise development initiatives enable
local entrepreneurs to access the tourism market through various
channels including five locally owned and run arts and crafts
outlets (collectively turning over R3.1 million annually),
community owned car wash facilities at major camps, community
owned kiosks at day visitors picnic sites and local catering
service providers for events (turns R328 289 annually). The
community owned Park n Ride game drive business turns over
approximately R250 000 annually.
3.5 The Kruger National Park contractor development programme builds
capacity of local building contractors through both formal and
practical training sessions, using the local contractors for new
buildings and the maintenance of the existing tourism and other
infrastructure facilities. To date the programme has
successfully trained 29 contractors who have in turn employed
360 staff, and have collectively contributed towards an
infrastructure spend on Small Micro and Medium Enterprises
(SMMEs) of R628 million since 2006.
3.6 Focusing on high end five star tourism, the concessionaires in
the Kruger National Park partner with the South African National
Parks (SANParks) in community development, through using on
average 200 local SMMEs for various service provision through
the year, amounting to over R6 million annually in recent years.
3.7 In cases where land restitution has taken place inside the
Kruger National Park, relevant communities work with private
partners to unlock additional benefits from tourism operations
such as Nkambeni in the south of the park as well as Makuleke in
the north with community land owners receiving preferential
employment and business opportunities, as well as both rent and
concessionaire fees based on turn over.
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