Dear Patricia de Lille
Let me start by congratulating you on your re-appointment as Minister of Tourism.
As you might know, Pilansberg National Park is (was?) a favourite tourism destination, for both local and international tourists – it offers a large variety of game and birds; is malaria free; is next to Sun City; and very accessible from Pretoria and Johannesburg (including OR Tambo for international tourists).
I visited the park a few months ago, in March, and was shocked to notice the appalling condition of all roads and hides in the park. I was driving an SUV and could hardly enjoy a game viewing experience due to the condition of the roads – evading potholes on the deteriorating tar- and gravel roads – it must be a horrific experience for people in sedan cars. I have since spoken to many people that said they advise tourists to avoid Pilansberg National Park, mainly because of the extremely bad condition of the roads in the park.
The very popular Mankwe bird hide, which is renowned for excellent photographic opportunities, is closed due to structural issues – would this be since 2018(?) when there were devastating wildfires in the park?
Something needs to be done to reinstate the Pilansberg National Park as a prime tourist attraction – if Pilansberg National Park cannot be managed properly, should it not be considered to include it in the SANParks family?