Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - Southern Africa

History, People and Processes Forming the Park

Feb 19, 2009 Yolande Pienaar

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is situated in the protrusion of South Africa between Namibia and Botswana and includes the South Western part of Botswana

The park allows for access from Namibia, at the Mata Mata Gate, and exit through the park at any of the gates in Botswana, without checking through the border post at Twee Riviere, hence the name Transfrontier Park. Visitors entering and exiting in the same country do not need a passport or to go through passport procedure.

Where Does the Name Kgalagadi Originate From?

According to the Official Information Brochure SA National Parks, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, 2004, the indigenous Kgalagadi tribe were the first black people to live in the Kalahari with the San people. Although the tribes initially lived in relative peace, the Kgalagadi were eventually driven out of the area. The name they gave the area remained in use. Early white settlers entered the area exclusively to trade with the local tribes by exchanging livestock for indigenous items produced by the local people.

The History of the Area and Surroundings

The areas west of the park in Namibia were under German rule since about 1891. Ten years later the Hottentot people rebelled against the German rule and German troops congregated at Grootkolk, which was deep inside the British Colonial territory and set up a posting station for carrying messages to the then South West Africa (Namibia). The troops used a big Camel Thorn tree as lookout post, but despite their efforts, the Hottentot people managed to successfully attack the camp.

After the First World War Roger Jackson theoretically divided the area into farms ranging between 10200 and 12800 hectares. He named many of these farms after Scottish landmarks and many of these names are still used as names for the boreholes inside the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. White farmers moved to these areas and because they maintained the boreholes they didn’t pay any rent.

Why the Need Arose to Form a National Park

Due to the aridness of the region and the scarcity of food, the animals in the area had to adapt to the semi-desert terrain to survive. Farmers started hunting these animals indiscriminately causing some animals to face extinction. Only the remote areas of the upper Nossob river remained virtually unspoiled as the San people lived in harmony with both animals and plants. It became clear that control measures had to be implemented to protect this unique ecosystem.

In the early 1900s the minister of Land, Piet Grobler, took the initiative to start the former Kalahari Gemsbok Park, which was officially proclaimed in 1931. The Second World War and poachers never played a significant role inside the park, mostly due to the remoteness of the area.

The Botswana Gemsbok National Park, on the Botswana side of the park, was proclaimed in 1938 by the then Bechuanaland. In 1971 the Mabuasehube Game Reserve was added and in 1992 it was incorporated into the Botswana Gemsbok National Park.

In 1999 the presidents of South Africa and Botswana signed an agreement to combine the Kalahari Gemsbok Park and the Botswana Gemsbok National Park into a single park and on 12 May 2000 the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park officially opened. At that stage it was the first formal cross-border National park in Africa.

Today visitors can enter the Park from Namibia at the Mata Mata Gate, or South Africa at the Twee Rivieren Gate or Botswana at the Kaa or Mabuasehube Gates.

The copyright of the article Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - Southern Africa in Wildlife Preservation is owned by Yolande Pienaar. Permission to republish Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park - Southern Africa in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Nossob River Bed North of Nossob	Information at Unie End Near Grootkolk	Sunrise Over the Dry Nossob River At Twee Riviere
Mabuasehube Landscape	Dune Landscape in Kgalagadi Park