On Tuesday 24 March, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Barbara Creecy announced the closure of all of South Africas National Parks as part of the nationwide lockdown. The closure was initially going to take place on Thursday 26 March.
SANParks then announced that all tourism facilities would be closed from today, Wednesday 25 March.
In a statement, SANParks said: ‘Dear Clients of SANParks, we are dealing with not only an unprecedented situation but one that is fluid and unpredictable.
‘Following additional advice from key government departments, it is with regret that we have to make a major amendment to decisions made earlier today regarding the closure of our tourism facilities.
‘All tourism facilities in SANParks will be closed from tomorrow Wednesday 25th March and not Thursday 26th. Guests will not be allowed to enter any national park whether as day or overnight visitors from Wednesday 25th until further notice.
‘Secondly, all guests from high-risk countries currently resident in the parks are instructed NOT to leave the parks. All such guests have been identified and staff on the ground will provide them with support and further information regarding their travel arrangements as well as facilitate contact with their embassies.
‘We have requested our staff to exercise utmost compassion and respect towards our guests to get us all through this crisis. We urge you to cooperate with our staff as we navigate these uncharted waters.
‘If you can, we urge you to postpone rather than cancel the balance of your stay, we would like to see you back in our parks in the near future. Stay safe, stay locked down and help flatten the curve.’
Image: Getaway Gallery
