In mid-January, intense flooding across South Africa’s Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces forced Kruger National Park to briefly close to day visitors. Now, South African National Parks (SANParks) says it has reopened some roads and camp infrastructure.
“Restoration efforts are ongoing, and visitor safety remains our highest priority,” the agency wrote in a Feb. 2 update.
The flooding, which affected large parts of northeastern South Africa and neighboring Mozambique, caused extensive damage to infrastructure in Kruger, one of South Africa’s most visited parks. South Africa’s environment minister, Willie Aucamp, said the cost of repairs could reach $30 million.
Tom Vorster is acting director of the Maruleng Tourism Association, which represents 80 tourism-linked companies operating in and around the town of Hoedspruit near Kruger’s Orpen Gate. He told Mongabay that SANParks has been scrambling to construct alternative routes that will allow tourists to access the park.
“They are slowly but surely opening where they can and working frantically,” he said. “There are a number of bridges and dam walls and things which have been compromised by the flooding, so bypass roads are being built or rehabilitated frantically.”
In a Jan. 22 statement, Aucamp said the flooding had led to a 41% drop in tourist visits compared with the same period in January 2025. He added that the loss of revenue at Kruger “puts the sustainability of the entire network of parks at risk.”
SANParks spokesperson Reynold Thakhuli told Mongabay he was unable to provide an estimate for the cost or timeline of repairs since assessments were ongoing.
According to SANParks’ most recent annual report, Kruger welcomed 1.9 million visitors in the 2024-25 financial year, accounting for just over 30% of the park network’s total visitors.
In his statement, Aucamp said that 80% of SANParks’ budget is self-generated, meaning that deep or sustained revenue losses at Kruger could squeeze the agency’s budget for activities all across the country.
The flooding highlights the heavy reliance of South Africa’s state-run protected areas on tourist revenue from just a few parks. Hayley Clements of the African Wildlife Economy Institute said this kind of reliance on tourism for conservation budgets is common across Africa.
“Some parks are much more desirable for a tourist, and that helps to fund critical ecosystems where there’s not such a good business case for conservation,” she said. “And what’s also common amongst state conservation agencies across the region is that tourism is becoming a bigger part of what funds them, because they have limited and diminishing budgets from the state.”
To support repairs, SANParks has set up a recovery fund to solicit private donations.
Some camp facilities and park entrances have already opened — a hopeful sign, Vorster said.
“It’s going to take a long time to recover, but it’s positive that they’re actually working a lot harder than we anticipated in getting things fixed up,” he said.
Banner image: A wildebeest in Kruger National Park. Image by Rhett Butler/ Mongabay.
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