Shangoni Gate & Camps Kruger National Park

[okie]

You know , the main reason given for this gate seems to be for the purposes of uplifting of local population , i.e Giyani area , and it seems that around 300 new jobs are to be created .
This is of course absolutely commendable . People do need jobs -- no question about that
But , IMHO , the cost to create 300 jobs is just too much , and from a business perspective the payback period is more in the region of many decades , rather than usual ( business ) look-out of say maximum 10 years
Therefore , business-wise , this gate does not make sense
Secondly , upliftment of the community is also a great and honourable reason for this
But , at whose expense would that upliftment happen
Kruger is limited , with limited facilities , with NO CHANCE at all to expand , but rather to shrink in the future
So , visitor numbers will not necessarily increase commensurate with the new investment , and in fact , jobs may actually be taken away from other areas .
More visitors will enter the park from Giyani , and therefore fewer will enter from Pafuri and Punda gates .
So , the way I see it , is that Pafuri and Punda/Malakulele will be the big losers
I certainly will not use those gates anymore . It could be dangerous .
Because , we have a already seen numerously how the Malakulele community can behave

[Richprins]

I think the main reason is access to Mozambique, okie!

[Lisbeth]

Why would this be interesting to Sanparks

[Richprins]

Why would what, Lis?

[okie]

Lis , it appears to be based on politics . Note , from the new road , it is just a small hop straight through to Dipeni on the S50 . This is where , historically , recruits came over the border to be collected to go and work on the gold mines .
Also note , there is already an access road on the Moz side of the border .

[Philip1]

Quicker to transport poachers.

[Lisbeth]

OK, but why is this interesting to Sanparks.....or the government Only in order to make it easier for working power coming from Moz? There must be something else!

[Richprins]

It is of no benefit whatever to SANParks financially regarding tourism, I think, as okie has mentioned? SP will pay for the camp and gate and curio centre and what not, maybe, which will take years to recoup. As okie says, visitors will just move from one gate to another...this one is also rather out of the way with questionable time-efficient tar road access from outside the Park.

As I've said before, Govt. has been asked by Mozambique to provide a better port of entry for commercial traffic.

I don't think Dipene is an option...all dirt roads going there from both sides, and Transfrontier Park in Moz on the other side of the border.

At least not short-term.

But there is relevant Moz traffic form Pafuri Border Post, virtually all of which goes out via Punda Maria Gate. At speed! Much of this may move down to Shangoni Gate, at speed!

It's all about whether it will be a tar road or not.

[Lisbeth]

Hmmm

And why would SA give in to Moz for another road to and from I just do not understand why Sanparks (Government) Would spend a lot of money for another gate. There must be a convincing reason

[Richprins]

The short-term is to provide some employment?

It is part of .gov's Public Works Programme, so they pay for infrastructure, which is wildly more expensive!

As with many of these projects, one has to check which tribal authorities were promised what and what not, and how close these things are to elections, and what is promised to communities etc.