TALKING POINT

West Coast National Park flower season

Reynold “Rey” Thakhuli General Manager: Media, Events and Stakeholder Relations

Spring is officially in the air and we’re very excited about all the celebrations that come with it. First of all, September is heritage month so we’re starting this newsletter off with some of the heritage sites of SANParks issue on page 4.

We are also very excited about our new reality TV series called Away for Repair, which launched on 7 October. In this collaboration between SANParks and Bonngoe TV, Rami Chuene and Romeo Mabasa takes the viewer on a journey to mend broken relationships. Read about the spectacular launch on page 7.

September is also Arbor Month and Augrabies National Park celebrated it by planting some indigenous trees with the learners from Vredesvallei Primary School. They also celebrated World Rivers Day with the Midstream College group on page 12.

Bontebok National Park has been very busy celebrating Arbor Week with the local community, and followed that up with a celebration on World Rhino Day. Read their update on page 17.

And because we can’t ignore the current pandemic, read about the impact COVID-19 has had on South African tourism and what has been done to curb the loss of income on page 8, and the well-run vaccination drive of Marakele National Park on page 18.