WEDNESDAY,
16 AUGUST 2006: The Great Limpopo Transfrontier
Park’s (GLTP) Giriyondo Tourist Access Facility
was officially opened by Presidents, Armando Guebuza
of Mozambique, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe on Wednesday, 16 August
2006. The Access Facility is a link between Limpopo
National Park in Mozambique and the Kruger National
Park in South Africa .
During the opening ceremony,
President Thabo Mbeki said, “The African Union’s
programme, The New Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD) urges all of us, as leaders and as citizens
of the African continent, to develop and implement
coherent action plans and strategies to address
the continent’s environmental challenges while
at the same time promoting socio-economic development
and fighting poverty,”
The treaty to establish the
GLTP was signed in Xai Xai, Mozambique in December
2002 by Presidents Joachim Chissano of the Republic
of Mozambique, Thabo Mbeki of the Republic of
South Africa and Robert Mugabe of the Republic
of Zimbabwe.
The GLTP is one of the fourteen
transfrontier conservation areas in the Southern
African Development Region (SADC). The aim of
the whole transfrontier conservation area concept
is to promote joint regional co-operation in conservation
effort, however, in the process it also takes
into consideration issues of socio-economic development
through eco-tourism to boost the regional economy.
Part of the fence separating
Limpopo National Parks in Mozambique and Kruger
National Park in South Africa was dropped between
2003 and 2005, and will continue in future until
the whole fence has been dropped. The process
to develop the crossing point over the Limpopo
River between South Africa’s Kruger National Park
and Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou is currently being undertaken
and will give complete access to the GLTP when
completed.
Giriyondo Access Facility will
facilitate tourism flow within the GLTP. Tourists
using the facility are expected to produce valid
passports, however the visa requirements between
South Africa and Mozambique have been waived for
all bearers of the passports of the two countries
who wish to stay in each country for a maximum
of 30 days.
Standard operational procedures
are applicable to tourists when making use of
the facility. The hours of operation from April
to September are from 08:00 to 15:00, while during
October to March the facility is open from 08:00
to 16:00. The roads in the Limpopo National Park
part of the GLTP are accessible only by 4x4 vehicles.
No commercial traffic or vehicles with an excess
of a maximum of 4 tonnes (axle load) are allowed
to use the Giriyondo Tourist Access Facility.
“I have no doubt that the easy
access facilities and open spaces within the Great
Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which has been branded
as the world’s largest animal kingdom, will be
a major attraction before, during and after the
2010 FIFA World Cup. We must surely redouble our
efforts to ensure that this unique and rich tapestry
of life on our planet is turned into a jewel of
the tourism market,” emphasised President Mbeki.
“We need to build on this potential
tourist boom and accelerate Africa’s share of
the global tourist market, which stood at 4,5%
as at 2003,” said President Mbeki. Mbeki went
on to add that Transfrontier Conservation Areas
coupled with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, provided
us with a unique opportunity for exceptional growth
in the tourism industry.
