According to the Marakele National Park spokesperson, Reynold Thakhuli a preliminary report indicates that only 20% of the 67 000ha of land has been destroyed by the fire that started on Sunday, 23 September 2012. "All we know is that the fire originated from the eastern side of the park, closer to a power cable supplying electricity to the communication mast. However, at this stage we are not sure what sparked the fire on that cable as lighting only occurred earlier in the week. We are thankful that no deaths or damage to property occurred up to this far as most of the animals and tourism infrastructure are in the plains of the area and not in the mountains."
He said the park is applying adequate measures to protect the infrastructure in the area with the help from the Working for Fire personnel stationed at the park. "Hence we would like to inform members of the public and visitors to the park that it is safe to book accommodation in Marakele as the fire was only in the mountainous area of the park."
Bookings at the Tlopi tented and Bontle camps are open and visitors can still make use of all the facilities. For information on SANParks bookings, go to www.sanparks.org.
