SANParks has warned visitors to the Kruger National Park to obey road closure procedures. In a statement, SANParks says it has noted several occurrences where motorists disobeyed road closures and removed “No entry” signs while in the park and ended up stuck on closed roads and required an emergency search by ranger and other essential teams.
“SANParks acknowledges that while people’s lives are of priority in emergency situations, guests who deliberately open closed roads and then get stuck may be fined as pere relevant regulations and held accountable for costs incurred from search and rescue operations,” said SANParks in a statement. SANParks says that apart from it being a contravention of the National Environmental management Protected Areas Act No. 57 of 2003, it also misleads other motorists to drive through when they find closed roads illegally opened. This puts all involved parties at risk. “The situation has reached a stage where the park ends up spending a lot of resources and incur costs from the search and rescue operations undertaken,” says SANParks.
