Today, South Africa marks the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Kruger National Park, which was established under the National Parks Act on 31 May 1926.
The Kruger, which stretches across the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces is home to among others, 147 mammal species, including the iconic Big Five and more than 500 bird species.
“In the 2025/26 financial year, the Kruger National Park welcomed a record 1,959,757 guests. This demonstrates why continued investment in conservation and infrastructure within national parks remains crucial to sustaining both tourism growth and economic returns,” says Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille.
Over the past 10 years, the Department of Tourism has supported infrastructure development in national parks to the value of R522 723 767. This includes R64 180 000 for the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy-generating systems in the Kruger National Park and R62 036 640 towards maintenance programmes within the park.
Followning the devastating floods earlier in the year, the Department allocated R56 352 828 through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to support mop-up and recovery operations at both public and private tourism facilities in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Of this amount, R 36 409 827 was allocated to SANParks of rehabilitation efforts in the Kruger National Park.
During the Department of Tourism’s Budget Vote 38 on 26 May 2026, Minister de Lille told Parliament: “When English singer Dua Lipa posts photos from her Kruger National Park vacation, telling her 87.4 million Instagram followers, ‘I just had the most incredible trip of my life in South Africa,’ she becomes an authentic ambassador for our country. That visibility translates into economic activity.”
As South Africa celebrates this remarkable milestone, the Department of Tourism pays tribute to the communities whose ancestral land has become a global beacon of conservation excellence, scientific discovery and tourism growth.
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Media Queries:
Aldrin Sampear
Spokesperson for the Minister of Tourism
Email: asampear@tourism.gov.za
Mobile: +27 67 138 3487