If you wanted to visit any national parks throughout South Africa, this week is the week to do so, as you will be able to get in for free.
On Sunday the South African Parks launched the annual campaign which grants free day access to all the national parks across South Africa for all South African, the campaign runs from Monday the 10th of September to Friday the 14th of September.
SANParks partnered with First National Bank (FNB) and Total South Africa in order to launch the #LiveYourWild campaign.
The launch was held at Phalaborwa, in the Kruger National Park, the reason that this campaign was launched was to give free access to local communities living close to the 21 parks in South Africa, so that they get to experience a national park.
The SANParks chief executive officer, Fundisike Mketeni, said the campaign was launched 13 years ago because the realization arose that many South Africans were not visiting national parks. “This is also an effort to reach out and allow all citizens a chance to freely access something they might not have been exposed to. We especially want our young people to take advantage of this opportunity, because this heritage will be under their protection in the near future,” Mketeni said.
Usually a fee of R83 per adult and R42 per child has to be paid in order to access the Kruger National Park. Fees do vary per park.
Free access is not included to the Namaqualand National Park, the Boulders Penguin Colony and Table Mountain Cableway. It also does not include free access to accommodation and other tourist activities.