A century of Kruger

As SANParks prepares to mark 100 years since the establishment of the Kruger National Park, the people who lived in and interacted with the landscape for tens of thousands of years are long gone. Among them were the San, whose presence during the Stone Age survives in the park’s rich collection of rock art and artefacts, a legacy that continues to offer insight into South Africa’s deep human history. Reflecting on Kruger’s early years, renowned environmental historian Jane Carruthers recalled a vastly different park experience from the tightly regulated reserve visitors know today. Carruthers, author of the influential book The Kruger National Park: A Social and Political History, said tourists visiting around 1927 often arrived with little understanding of wilderness conservation. “When tourists came to Kruger, they wanted to touch the wild animals — even lions, if they could,” she told the Mail & Guardian. “There were no roads and no infrastructure. The instruction from the central government, which had taken over Kruger from the Transvaal administration, was simply that it should operate as a tourist destination.” At the time, the southern enclave near Pretoriuskop Rest Camp was the only section open during winter. “There were no rules and regulations,” Carruthers said. “People got out of their cars and camped wherever they wanted. There was nobody to watch them — no opening or closing times.” For Carruthers, Kruger’s centenary is significant not only as a conservation milestone but as a reflection of South Africa’s political and social evolution. “It tells us about the history of South Africa over the last 100 years, because Kruger has fitted into that history and South Africans have always adapted,” she said. “In all the changes of government we’ve had, the fact that Kruger still survives is remarkable. It could have gone in a completely different direction. Each succeeding generation has taken the best of it and carried it forward.” Spanning nearly two million