The Limpopo Department of Economic Development and Tourism has announced plans to open a new gate and a tourist activity hub in the Kruger National Park.
Kruger Gate, one of 10 existing gates to the park.
The new entrance, Shangoni, will be situated between Giyani and Malamulele, with hopes that the activity hub, which includes restaurants, fun parks and creativity centres, will attract locals to visit the park regularly.
In speaking to Pretoria News last week, MEC for Economic Development in Limpopo, Thabo Mokone, said the project had been on the agenda for some time now and was now being implemented.
‘We are resuscitating the idea because the provincial executive committee some years back approved the budget for the Shangoni gate and started to build roads to the new entrance,’ Mokone said, ‘What we need to do now is to build a bridge that will link the park to the gate.’
He commented that the project has been plagued by a squabble between the two communities of Malamulele and Giyani as to where the gate would be located.
The gate has the potential to assist in transforming the tourist sector, involving the local communities around the park. Mokone said the activity hub would bolster the economy in Palabora.
‘We have taken a decision as government to claim the Kruger Park. Phalaborwa town has been anchored by the mining industry so we want the tourism sector to be a secondary encore to develop the town into an epic tourism destination.’
The gate is intended to give easy access to the residents of Giyani and Malamulele to the park and is expected to open soon.
Picture: Getaway Gallery
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