A park is born

On 8 April 1933, the Illustrated London News reported a sensational find in the old Transvaal: ‘a grave of unknown origin, containing much goldwork, found on the summit of a natural rock stronghold in a wild region.”

That ‘wild region” lies just south of the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers, close to the juncture of the present-day borders of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana, just west of Musina.

On 24 September 2004, Heritage Day, the new Mapungubwe National Park was officially opened by the Minister of Environment Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, at the site of the new Interpretive Centre, where the apartheid-era South African Defence Force once had a look-out post, as the regimental badge painted on a nearby rock attests.

Now only tourists and park rangers will be looking out over the confluence of the rivers from brand-new observation platforms. The slow tinkling of goat bells drifts up from the riverbank on the Botswana side through the haze of heat. If you’re lucky, you may even see a herd of elephant crossing the dry river bed.

South Africa’s newest park is not just about wildlife or preserving biodiversity, although it includes plenty of this — it is also the country’s first national park to be proclaimed because of its rich cultural heritage.

An ancient kingdom

The earliest signs of human habitation along the Limpopo River valley are ancient. The oldest sites date from the Early Stone Age, between one million to 250 000 years ago — there are several San rock art sites in the area. But it is the Iron Age sites established by Bantu-speaking people migrating into the area from the north that give the park its added significance.

The very earliest Iron Age settlements apparently date back as far as AD 350. Next in age is Zhizo (occupied between AD 700-900) on the Schroda farm, and the complex of archaeological sites at Mapungubwe Hill, K2 and Bambandyanalo (AD 1000-1300) is said to be the forerunner of Great Zimbabwe (AD 1300-1450) and related sites hundreds of kilometres north-east, as well as Thulamela in Kruger Park.

The rich alluvial soils along the Limpopo River valley, like the Nile Valley at the other end of Africa a few millennia before, gave rise to southern Africa’s earliest kingdoms, based on agriculture and long-distance trade.

Yet — unlike Great Zimbabwe, which is well-known worldwide and extensively studied — until fairly recently, the discoveries made at Mapungubwe and its sister sites since the 1930s were kept under wraps by the apartheid state because the findings of archaeological research conducted there would have undermined that era’s strident propaganda.

According to Professor Tom Huffman, who holds the Chair of Archaeology in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), the Mapungubwe complex is ‘the most important precolonial farming site in South Africa. Mapungubwe’s architecture and spatial arrangement provide the earliest evidence for class distinction and sacred leadership in southern Africa.”

Mapungubwe’s recent history

As early as 1922, General Jan Smuts — a renowned amateur botanist, among other things, with a great love for wild places — set aside an area known as the Dongola Botanical Reserve. He loved the place so much, he even built a house there. Earlier, Cecil John Rhodes and others had also used the area for hunting.

In 1947, the reserve was extended to 92 000ha and renamed the Dongola Wildlife Reserve, but a sinister era loomed. In 1948, after winning the elections, the National Party deproclaimed the park and transferred parcels of land to farmers and a large chunk, the farm Greefswald, to the South African Defence Force for use as a training base. In time, Greefswald also became a launch pad for incursions into then-Rhodesia during the so-called ‘Bush War” prior to independence, and afterwards, into Zimbabwe.

The name Greefswald still strikes a chill in the hearts of many men who were forced into national service during the 1970s and ’80s, because for those who fell foul of the system — gays, drug addicts, dissidents — it was also a ‘rehabilitation” centre, run by the notorious Dr Aubrey Levine.

Happily, soon after South Africa’s first democratic elections, in 1995 the first parcel of land was handed over to South African National Parks (SANParks), which has worked closely with the Limpopo Provincial Government to create the new park.

Since 2000, the process of consolidating public and private land to expand the park has gained momentum. Known for a few years as Vhembe Dongola National Park, it has provisionally been renamed Mapungubwe National Park.

In July 2003, the area was added to Unesco’s list of world heritage sites, one of five in South Africa. Ultimately, Mapungubwe will form part of a huge transfrontier conservation area (TFCA) which will include Botswana’s Tuli Block and Zimbabwe’s Tuli Safari region, under the aegis of the Peace Parks Foundation.

At present, the park covers about 22 000ha. The proposed TFCA will incorporate around 800 000ha.

Ecotourism for future prosperity

The creation of Mapungubwe National Park has been an objective of SANParks for many years. Besides the rich biodiversity of the area, its great scenic beauty and the cultural importance of its archaeological treasures, it will also become a sanctuary

for some of the most threatened species, such as wild dog and black rhino.

But the park’s development cannot be seen in isolation. Previous land use in the region was based on marginal cattle and agricultural operations, which provide limited employment, most of it unskilled labour.

A key objective is to stimulate tourism initiatives within surrounding communities. Rather than investing in more tourist accommodation within the park itself, with potentially negative environmental consequences, SANParks is encouraging private sector initiatives around the fringes of the park.

Several private lodges have already been built, and a group of tourism operators have formed the Musina Limpopo Valley Tourism Association to market the many attractions of the area, from radio tracking wild dogs at Venetia to San rock art sites, wilderness hiking trails, bird and game watching, botanising and much more. These private initiatives will help to stimulate economic growth and support suppliers of goods and services within the region.

Future expansion includes buying up the remaining farms, as well as the development of tourism infrastructure and rehabilitation of certain areas. Plans include the building of the interpretive centre and museum, an office complex and staff housing. These projects are all creating much-needed jobs, both permanent and on contract during the development phases.

Investment in 2003/2004 has included R47-million for infrastructure, about R10-million annually to acquire land, and a R3,5-million annual operational budget.

Central to all of these initiatives is poverty relief. Besides the temporary employment created during the construction phases of projects, many new permanent posts are being created, both within the park and at the surrounding private lodges.

In addition, entrepreneurship is being encouraged, whether it is the manufacture of arts and crafts or cultural entertainment such as traditional dancing and music for tourists. The knock-on effect of the park is already being felt in nearby small towns such as Alldays and Musina.

A further role for the park is that of education. Schools will be encouraged to bring groups of learners to the interpretive centre and museum, where they will be shown how to appreciate the rich cultural and natural heritage represented by the park.

Other vital aspects include the rehabilitation of the land itself by, for instance, removing alien vegetation, and, of course, ongoing archaeological research, overseen by an archaeological task group.

A comprehensive integrated management plan is in its final stages, guided by several pieces of legislation: the Protected Areas Act, the National Environmental Management Act, the Biodiversity Act, the World Heritage Convention Act, and the South African Heritage Resources Act.

Visitor info

Access to the park

Wild Card members are subject to the usual conditions but casual visitors will have to pay a conservation fee of R15 per person per day to gain entry to the park.

Accommodation

Two self-catering 14-bed lodges, Tshugulu Lodge and Rhodesdrift Lodge, are located in the park. Contact Tshugulu Lodge on 012 428 9111. Rates are R1 350 for 1 to 4 persons, and R280 per additional person per night. Tshugulu Lodge is upmarket, fully equipped (A/C, pool, etc), in a beautiful setting against sandstone cliffs. Rhodesdrift Lodge is on the Limpopo River. Facilities at this old farmhouse are more basic. It is frequently used for official accommodation, but may be booked on request to the park manager. There are also other SANParks lodges in the surrounding area as well as many privately owned lodges and wilderness camps.

Contact details

Park manager: Bernard van Lente

Tel: 015 534 0102 or [email protected]

For more information, to book or to buy a Wild Card