Question NW507 to the Minister of Environmental Affairs
11 March 2016 - NW507
Hadebe, Mr TZ 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 park’s 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?
Reply:
(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 “local communities” 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 park’s 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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