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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Update: Rhino Card Holders' Discounted Entry into Eastern Shores


After an informative, albeit unresolving, conversation with KZN Wildlife's Rhino Club, St Lucia News has been able to obtain more information in response to rumours surrounding the future of Rhino Card holders' discounted entry into Eastern Shores Game Reserve.

While the Rhino Club was unable to confirm or negate these rumours, St Lucia News was able to gain some knowledge of the annual procedure undertaken by KZN Wildlife on behalf of its Rhino Card holders.
Each year KZN Wildlife holds negotiations with Isimangaliso regarding Rhino Card holders and their access into Eastern Shores. Negotiations usually start in October and are finalised by December, at which stage the outcome of said negotiations is relayed to Rhino Card holders, usually via the December newsletter. The Rhino Club then, on behalf of its card holders, uses a portion of these annual contributions to pay Isimangaliso. As it stands, therefore, Rhino Card holders' discounted entry (paying only the R5 per person community levy, in itself a relatively new charge) is in place for the remainder of 2012 and next year's entry will be negotiated later this year.

Many years ago there was a scheme called the Neighbourhood Card. Community members paid a nominal amount annually in order to obtain the Neighbourhood Card which allowed them free access into the reserves with which their town bordered. This scheme was ended many years ago and now, as the Wild Card also can't be used for discounted entry into Eastern Shores, the Rhino Card is the only card carrying this benefit. If this were to change, however, reinstating the Neighbourhood Card or a similar scheme would be beneficial to the St Lucia Community. This is one of the questions put to Isimangaliso by St Lucia News, for which we still await a response.

We have been advised to contact another member of the Isimangaliso staff who will hopefully be able to provide some answers.  As she is currently out of the office, however, we continue to wait for clarification on this subject, at which point St Lucia News readers will be further updated.
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