At the age of 67 Galiema Simons from Bo-Kaap experienced her first visit to the Cape of Good Hope during the 18th annual South African National Parks (SANParks) Week, one of free access to the various nature reserves.
Locals had the opportunity to visit SANParks for free from Saturday 16 September to Sunday 24 September.
“This is the first time I’ve been to Cape Point at my age,” Simons pointed out. “It was a good experience and now I can tell my children what I experienced today. I never had the opportunity before, and it was beautiful to see the sights.”
On Tuesday 19 September, Sharifa Fredericks (76), team leader of the Bo-Kaap Seniors Club, said some of their members had never been to Table Mountain either.
“For quite a few of them, it was their first time here today and they had a ball of a time.
“Seeing we do live in Cape Town, some of them have never been on Table Mountain. I think it is because of not knowing how the other thing is money.
“We try to take them wherever we can and, as I always say, a change in atmosphere is a good way to start one’s day.”
Suzan Muhanelwa, Socio-economic Information Officer for the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP), said certain communities were identified to receive free transport to experience the Cape of Good Hope.
“What we do during SANParks Week is to run our bus programme where we are able to identify communities and offer them free access in terms of transport and bringing them into the park.
“We identified the Bo-Kaap community because it is one of the oldest communities. We are expecting a very good turnout and just looking at today, the weather is a little funny but we see a lot of people taking the opportunity to come through.
“This is the 18th annual SANParks Week and, over the years in the different parks, we’ve had more than 700 000 people use the opportunity to come through.”
According to TMNP Tourism stats, the most visited sites for 2022-2023 were the Boulders Penguin Colony, Cape of Good Hope, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway and Table Mountain National Park, with a combined 2,2 million visitors.
Visitor numbers have increased compared to previous years of 1,1 million for 2021-2022 and 478 974 in 2020-2021.
SANParks Chief Executive Officer Hapiloe Sello says SA National Parks Week is aimed at linking national parks to communities.
“The role of communities in our efforts to protect our parks is of vital importance.
“Our communities should be at the forefront of conservation and SANParks Week gives these communities an opportunity to access parks they weren’t exposed to freely and gain a greater understanding of the importance of conservation.”
