Kruger National Park: Be Careful of what We may Lose

[H. erectus]

Nope I'm afraid but I feel .gov needs to be held responsible for
state asset!!! Though at the best of times one feels more comfortable
with these assets in private hand!!! Also would not be right!!

I stand to correction but a former premier of Mhpumalanga, a Dipico
had Kruger up as collateral for a Swiss bank loan????

[Scipio]

RichPrins, as a National park parts of Kruger cannot be de-proclaimed, but that is where the Land restitution, or landclaims come in, as they may be utilised to do just that.

Kruger is not as safe as we think.

And then, we do live in Africa, and we all know how things can go in Africa.

[Polentswa]

The Kruger will probably be sold to Sepp Blatter to get the rights for a rerun ..2026 World Cup

[Richprins]

[nan]

[Richprins]

Ja, Scips...great minds think alike!

But first more about the ethics regarding privatisation of services:


Is it acceptable to use tourist conservation money and Government budget money (Yes, as said, .gov have poured a lot of money into SANParks upon request over the years, reflecting in their budget) and insurance money after floods etc. to build/maintain infrastructure, and then provide that infrastructure as a basis for service providers?

As an example, the Franchises running the restaurants now have "inherited" a working infrastructure, with generator power as part of it, in the big camps. Their outlay is 0 regarding maintenance, and they know full-well Kruger will quickly solve problems should they occur in that respect. Certainly, the franchises pay a large "leasing" fee (which is extremely difficult to find intimate details of), but it is a captive market. No worries for them as long as monies are paid as per a presumably watertight agreement.

Once again, private business is not stupid, and they will get their profit and have not gone into this arrangement blind.

The tourist effectively pays double...gate/accommodation fees which go to maintenance and PPP deals as per big budget, and then at the till again!


Under SP management, costs were also borne twice, but in both cases money went to SP, not out of the Park/province/country...

Famous Brands posted record profits last financial year...google it!


The same with the Skuks hotel, should it be privatised.

Whoever takes over will not have to worry about water and lights accounts much, and no property tax and utility tax. Kruger does not pay the last two to local municipalities, they made that quite clear over the last few years, as they are not part of any municipality, which maybe makes sense?

Malelane Hotel, although it is Private, will have profits going overseas even faster to Raddison, while SP sponsors access roads, park and ride etc...(Already budgeted)

So this utopian and protected supply chain scores on many levels, compared to normal hotels and restaurants. But money leaves the SP coffers in the long term, and local jobs will be lost should stagnation set in, mark my words!


But this is nothing!

It is a test concept, IMO, and definitely feeling the temperature regarding total privatisation of commercial/tourism activities in Kruger.

Those bedrocks may have been laid quite a while ago...let's see!

Once again, there is no reason whatsoever to assume that SP is somehow immune from corruption and backhanders.


(Remember, all this is "worst case scenario", and my opinion only)

[H. erectus]

Geeshhh, what are we all about??? The custodian only
needs to redefine it's own purpose to get back on track!!

Currently they seem far to involved in the socio- economics
of matters surrounding the park rather than simply just looking
after thye park!!!

[Richprins]

One may say I am missing some obvious points, and have no business experience...

So I'll question myself, as nobody wishes to "contra-indicate"...


RP...you have no business experience and said that customers will dry up once prices increase and labour unrest sets in! Why would the "clever" private operators" come on board then?



Well...this is the scary part, IMO.

Private operators need not show much more than a tiny profit, eventually. The massive reading on their stock market portfolios regarding their vested long-term interests and perceived or real capital and/or PHYSICAL assets in their ventures is enough, IMO, especially for the biggest of the big.



And as per a later installment, the assets could indeed become physical.

Remember, it is always great when a new operator takes over...one visits a new restaurant first in town to have a look...for example. New menus, better service etc. But that normally wanes over time.

The Restaurant operators have to do virtually zero branding, for example, as there is no "other" option around the corner to compete with. They put menus on the fridges in the bungalows advising tourists to visit them instead of braaiing, a massive cornered advertising privilege that presumably costs them nothing?

This is unheard of regarding the free-market system, IMO, and inevitably leads to complacency and resulting downgrade in services in a captive market...complaints vs customers, which takes a long time to actually make a difference?

KNP services were outsourced to BEE instants after a slew of complaints regarding restaurants, shops and picnic spots many years ago. It worked at first. Then those companies couldn't hack it, leading to the international ones slowly now in charge.

But it didn't work for all...take the Skukuza Selati restaurant, for example, which now stands idle as the owners refused to budge regarding this "phase three" privatisation, (With added "strong arm tactics" from SP), and they took to the courts.


So back to the point: Why should Large Privates now bother regarding privatisation of camps?

Their deals have been struck, and it has been proven that tourist/taxpayers' money will be channeled to SP coffers, not infrastucture development, over the last twenty years, end of story. No new big camp has been built, nor major tar road, for that matter, in that timeframe. (The last big tar road was to Pafuri Border post...but not paid for by SP, rather a government border thing). Development has centred around now struggling concession lodges over that time.

Big Privates only come in once they see a struggling "opposition"...and once figures reach the quarter billion Rand mark, IMO...

It is also different once the money gets this big...before that the providers approach buddies/family with contracts, but the big stuff starts when the very clever privates approach the provider, SP in this case, so a bit of a misconception?

Also, I wonder how company tax works regarding these sorts of endeavours? That is a huge part of Privates' budget!

The Privates have "carte blanche" now.


The sad part is, regarding permanent job creation and guaranteed exclusive long-term Kruger fundraising, a start could have been made to a big normal restcamp in the Tshokwane area, for example, properly using public funds.

Scips and other qualified financial members...help a bit here? Am I mad?

[Richprins]

Hey, before we go on...I may seem to be confrontational/negative etc.

This thread basically sums up Africa Wild's existence, as we are about preventing a collapse of our and other African Parks. It will/may still take a while, the collapse, (behind the scenes) but the below pic sums up what we ACTUALLY need to be careful not to lose:


1/1/2015 - Mathekenyane/Granokop


















I think it is very symbolic, and could epitomise our future. It includes everything, IMO...with a tree in between...

Togetherness!

[Scipio]

I will just bore the crap out of everybody RP.

But, on the subject.....

Now Kruger is a Parastatal, it has a bank account, it has debts. Debt is running commerce, especially in SA. Lets say Kruger owes 60Million to ABSA, sorry FNB...(I was just thinking of another parastatal company sold to private companies to settle a 60Million ABSA debt. ) New Kruger Boss should know the exact figures as he was top dog in the sale there.

It is a long and drawn out thing to do.

Step one: Set out a plan of action, timeframe.
Step two: Do a due diligence, and put it out there.

NOW THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART!!!!!!!!

When you put the bait out, do it in such a way that nobody besides the relevant parties, buyer and seller knows. It is like a public company, according to law you can actually have it all done and dusted before you have to let the shareholders know. Kruger does not have timeshare or other contracts like the other parastatal I am referring to, so easy.

In one of your previous posts RP: The Managing entity has law on their side to preserve, protect and firstly involve and empower by involvement........ I can write an paper of one page, making it legal to privatise according to the statutes of SANParks.

IMHO it is a very possible scenario, your glass ball.