Despite generating enough revenue, there is no real priority to protect Table Mountain National Park or the many tourists that visit its picturesque hiking trails.
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This is according to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs (DFFE), Barabara Creecy, in a parliamentary reply to a written question.
Table Mountain National Park includes over 800 kilometres of hiking trails and top tourist attractions, including the Cableway, Devils Peak, Lions Head and Signal Hill.
The DFFE takes control of all affairs relating to the national park, and through the South African National Parks (or SANParks), it has the mandate to keep both the park and its visitors safe.
After a surge of crime within the TMNP area, the City of Cape Town is increasing its support for both SANParks and SAPS in their crime-fighting efforts.
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The recent parliamentary reply from the National Government demonstrates a lack of commitment to manage the national park effectively, similar to the problems being seen at other tourist attractions such as the Castle of Goodhope.
According to the written reply, Creecy admitted that TMNP has only 70 rangers employed on a limited schedule.
Of the 168 hours in a week which needs to be covered by operational deployment, the rangers were each deployed for 45 hours of it. It is also understood that the majority of this deployment is focused on the South of the park around the marine reserve, where illegal poaching runs rife.
‘Perhaps the most shocking realisation was Minister Creecy giving clarity on the finances of TMNP,’ said Mayco member for Safety and Security, JP Smith.
‘As a city we have done much to stimulate our local economy in the wake of the pandemic and a large focus of this was for our tourism sector.’
‘TMNP has an annual income of around R300 million, with an expenditure of R97 million. This begs the question: if SANParks is vastly under-resourced with too few rangers, where is all this generated income going? Presumably, it goes towards subsidising other parks around SA.’
‘Our position is that if even half of the R200 million surplus generated each year was allocated by the National Government to fund additional resources, the City could fund an additional 400 Law Enforcement officers around the Table Mountain National Park.
That is five times more than the current ranger deployment. This would vastly improve the safety of visitors to the park.’
Smith added that if some of this budget funded additional technology including cameras, drones and aerial support and deployed according to a GPS-enabled, evidence-led despatching system, the city could achieve so much more and ensure that local, domestic and international visitor safety was bringing more tourists and more jobs to our city.
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‘Not only can it be done – it should be done,’ he added.
‘We will continue to support the local SAPS and SANParks rangers within the park as best we can, balancing this against the even greater priority of combating gang violence and serious crime in other parts of our city. Ensuring that the safety of the mountain is adequately funded by those in the National Government responsible for doing so, means that we are able to redeploy resources supporting TMNP and that we can focus the maximum resources on the parts of the City facing the most challenging crime threats.’
Smith encouraged the public to apply pressure on Minister Creecy and her fellow ministers within the National Government. ‘Our Table Mountain National Park is more than just a business asset. It is part of our heritage and we need to ensure we protect it with more than just empty promises.’
Also read:
City to ramp up safety measures amid rising crime in tourist hotspots
Picture: JP Smith / Facebook