SANParks is using its experience of fighting poachers in the Kruger National Park (KNP) to tackle crime in Table Mountain National Park (TMNP), its CEO has told Parliament.
Addressing Parliament’s portfolio committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries on the challenges faced in the park, SANParks CEO, Hapiloe Sello, said the sheer size of TMNP, which covers approximately 225 sqkm from Signal Hill to Cape Point, combined with the fact that 80% of it is open access, created persistent safety concerns. These included muggings and assaults as well as environmental crimes like poaching and illegal harvesting.
“The issue of crime is by far the largest and most critical risk we face on Table Mountain,” she said. However, she added that efforts were under way to address crime issues, using lessons learned in tackling rhino poaching in the KNP.
“We are learning from some of the interventions at KNP and seeing to what extent we can apply some of the technology that has assisted us there with regards to rhino poaching, to Table Mountain.”
Among the interventions in the TMNP are the introduction and subsequent expansion of the SEAM Team, a land, air and marine unit with special forces training and K9 support. This unit has been increased from 16 members to 40. This is in addition to 111 ranger corps staff members.
Sello said SANParks was investing in “boots on the ground” and undertaking vacancy management but, she said, “We have reflected and it’s clear that with the vast area we are looking at and with reference to the KNP, boots on the ground in the form of human beings can only cover so much, where technology can cover vast tracts of land.”
Investments have been made in security technology, including cameras, bodycams and other safety equipment, to be delivered in November. Drones were also currently being tested in the park as part of an existing contract, Sello said.
SANParks has also started the procurement process for a boat to be used by the SEAM team to combat abalone poaching.
A senior manager for visitor safety and protection services has also been appointed this month.
Sello said TMNP worked closely with SAPS, the City of Cape Town’s Metro Police and civil society on safety issues on the mountain, and would be reintroducing its volunteer safety services programme from the first quarter of 2026.
TMNP is the second-most-visited tourist destination in South Africa after the V&A Waterfront. Despite the challenges outlined to the committee, Sello said it was one of four parks in the SANParks portfolio that was commercially viable. Over the past five years, it has generated over R1.34 billion (US$77.1 million) in revenue, largely driven by the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Cape Point and Boulders Beach.
