Dear Editor
Yesterday, Minister Dr Dion George brought much-needed clarity to the recent noise surrounding the alleged proposal to rename the Kruger National Park: no such process is underway.
The motion raised by the EFF and supported by the MK and ANC in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature was nothing more than an empty, performative gesture. The authority to change the Park’s name rests solely with the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment. As long as the Department remains under DA leadership, no such consideration will take place.
Instead of addressing the real crises facing South Africans — corruption, service delivery collapse, crime, and unemployment — the ANC, MK, and EFF have chosen to indulge in revisionist and racialised politics. Their theatrics only create unnecessary panic and distract from the issues that truly matter.
Kruger’s global brand is the foundation of South Africa’s thriving ecotourism economy, sustaining thousands of jobs and livelihoods. Undermining that brand for political gain would directly harm the very citizens these parties claim to represent.
The DA joined the Government of National Unity to keep populists out of power and to restore governance, accountability, and delivery. This latest stunt only reaffirms that the DA’s decision was in the best interests of all South Africans.
Regards
Andrew de Blocq MP
DA National Spokesperson for Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment