Normal military tasking for some soldiers in the Kruger National Park is on hold until 21 March as they support removal of man-made structures in the iconic game reserve.
A major part of the removal entails blasting to remove concrete dam and weir walls from water courses and restore the natural ecological balance, which is where a specific skillset of the SA Army Engineer Formation, better known as the Sappers, will be utilised. SANParks, General Manager: Communications, Reynold Thakhuli, told DefenceWeb “soldiers” would again be part of the military component as they were in earlier partial demolition efforts but could not confirm their unit or mustering.
The removal of the man-made structures is in line with a Kruger management decision to restore natural water flows to prevent further ecological damage to the park. This has seen any number of waterholes, low dam walls and weirs removed.
The current demolition work centres on the Kanniedood and Sirheni dams, both in Kruger’s northern sector with Saturday, 21 March (Human Rights Day) set as the completion date for demolition work. The dams are about 200 km from the major SA Army base in the park, Sand River, with the closest rest camps Shingwedzi and Sirheni, a bush camp. The S50 (Shingwedzi between S134 and S143 junctions) and the S57 (Sirheni road from Shisha crossing to its junction with Sirheni bush camp detour) will be closed to traffic for the duration.
In addition to the specialist sapper expertise, other SA National Defence Force (SANDF) uniformed personnel from the SA Army Infantry Formation and the SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) have been drafted into temporary detached duty for the duration of the demolition work. They will, in the case of the military medics, be ready to assist with any injuries which might arise and, for the foot sloggers, to provide what SANParks has as “protection for people and animals” as well as traffic control in conjunction with Kruger rangers and support staff.
In summary, the national conservation agency has it “the purpose of the exercise is to remove concrete structures remaining after the 2013 floods and earlier partial demolitions” adding demolition will be followed by rubble clearance and removal.
SA Army infantry soldiers with the necessary support personnel are in Kruger as part of the border protection deployment Operation Corona as well as assisting Kruger rangers and specialist anti-poaching teams in tracking down and preventing poaching of rhino, elephant and other species.
