The fire trucks – stationed in the Garden Route National Park (GRNP) – are being utilised to supplement water provision and relief efforts. Though SANParks is not a formal member of the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) established by the Knysna Municipality on 14 May 2025, the organisation has promised sustained collaboration with the local authorities to ensure poor communities are not overlooked.

A Town under pressure

Knysna, a popular holiday resort in the Garden Route region of the Western Cape, has been subject to the environment pressures for some time now. The repetition of droughts, outdated infrastructure, and the rise of city needs have all served to place the water supplies of the municipality under severe pressure. The current crisis has identified the town’s water systems as vulnerable, forcing the local authorities to respond with emergency measures in the way of water rationing, pressure relief, and tanker supply services.

With dams at record high levels and rainfall unreliable, the town’s ability to provide has become precarious. The activation of the JOC is the sole evidence of how serious the situation is. The centre will oversee all crisis management operations, centralizing decision-making, and making sure that the most important services continue operating.

SANParks’ role: More than conservation

Even though SANParks’ fundamental mandate is the conservation of the country’s natural heritage through the system of national parks, today it has a wider role to play in national resilience. The deployment of fire trucks – a resource that is usually reserved for battling fires within national parks – is another sign of SANParks’ presence in civic life and disaster risk reduction.

“The assistance through SANParks is a wonderful example of whole-of-government cooperation,” said JP Louw, SANParks Spokesperson and Head of Communications.

“It’s a matter of covering gaps where we can, especially when it involves cases of emergency that affect our neighbours and communities around our parks.”

The Garden Route National Park, which transects fragments of Knysna, Tsitsikamma, and Wilderness, is both ecologically important and strongly connected to human-settled regions surrounding it. This makes SANParks’ entry into the water crisis not only an act of good will but a reasonable move to protect both environmental and community well-being.

Broader implications: Resilience through partnership

This deployment, though in the capacity of merely two trucks, is illustrative of an overarching discussion regarding South Africa’s response to its common water and climate-related issues. It is indicative of the importance of coordination between governments – specifically environmental, municipal, and emergency agencies – when addressing systemic threats.

Experts have been calling for the “climate-proofing” of towns like Knysna, where large volumes of tourists and sensitive ecosystems coincide. Scarcity of water, exacerbated by global warming, is no longer an intermittent threat but an ongoing reality. The deployment also shows how institutions like SANParks, with a capacity to operate in the distance and deploy speedily, can be efficient allies in metropolitan disaster management.

A community in waiting

While residents wait in anticipation of rains or more permanent infrastructure relief, the assistance from SANParks is being embraced as a welcome augmentation. But others are demanding longer-term thinking beyond the response mode – upgrading water networks, increasing storage capacity, and more carefully integrating conservation and municipal planning.

Phokela Lebea, SANParks’ Regional Communications Manager at the Garden Route National Park, made it plain that SANParks would “continue to review the situation and provide further support where possible”.

Ultimately, the SANParks fire truck deployment may appear small compared to the theme of Knysna’s water shortage, but it signals a broader trend – towards coordinated disaster response, environmental cohesion, and trans-agency readiness. As climate pressures mount and water scarcity the new reality for most South African municipalities, it is these acts of institutional collaboration that can pave the way towards more resilient, community-based solutions.

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Bid ENLS/2024/103 calls for ten boats, six road transport trailers, ten launching dollies, ten cradles, and four sets of boarding equipment. It is also seeking training and documentation as well as support for 24 months.

The boats, with a length no greater than nine metres, need to be built in South Africa and adhere to South African Maritime Safety Authority and other regulations. The successful bidder needs to have build similar vessels within the last ten years and supply a boat for testing (the boats need to be based on a proven existing design).

The ender said the boats will be deployed for coastline protection and boarding missions within the territorial zone of South Africa (12 nautical miles offshore). “The only threat identified and addressed in this specification is the environmental conditions which the RB/BB will be exposed to.”

The boats will be deployed around places like Saldanha Bay, Cape Town, Mossel Bay, Gqeberha, East London, Durban, Richards Bay, Gansbaai, Coffee Bay, and Hermanus. As such, they will need to conduct operations in sea states up to 4, in day and night conditions.

Sprint speed is specified as 40 knots in sea state 2 when fully fuelled and loaded with two crew and six passengers. Endurance needs to be at least four hours, and the boats need to return home safely on one engine. Full load displacement should not exceed four tons, excluding crew.

Operational life expectancy needs to be at least 15 years, with a hull of glass reinforced plastic/composite or marine grade aluminium. Other requirements are the six passenger seats need to be removeable for additional deck space; be powered by two Yamaha outboard engines; and be fitted with a searchlight, electronic chart display system, VHF radios, GPS and Furuno radar. Boarding equipment will comprise a boarding ladder and a telescoping placing pole for boarding.

Tender ENLS/2024/103 opened on 19 September, with bids closing on 18 November 2024.

BMA Commissioner Dr Mike Masiapato said earlier this year that BMA Coastal Guard units have been deployed to eight sites along the South African coastline, with an initial personnel strength of 50.

The Coast Guards have been deployed at the various maritime ports of entry (main harbours like Durban, Cape Town and Gqeberha) and are also protecting marine resources. “Coast Guards conduct maritime border law enforcement functions such as preventing and combating of human trafficking and the illegal movement of vessels,” the BMA said

The BMA added that, “the role of the Maritime Border Guards will not clash with that of the SA Navy of border safeguarding and defending the territorial integrity of South Africa.”

The BMA has cooperation agreements in place with the South African National Defence Force, South African Police Service (SAPS) and SA Revenue Service (SARS) to strengthen the safeguarding of the country’s borders, with the SANDF responsible for monitoring vulnerable sections of the borderline.

The Border Management Authority is getting a range of new equipment for its border guards. Funding from the Criminal Asset Recovery Account (CARA) is being used to acquire “critical security and ICT equipment,” which includes unmanned aerial systems, body cameras, and speed boats, with procurement being done through Armscor. Tenders have already been issued for gloves, body armour, and other kit.

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The collaborative effort involved the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), the Cape Leopard Trust (CLT), Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), SA National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and South African National Parks (SANParks).  Wildlife crime experts, government officials and conservation sector representatives met at Environment House in Arcadia, Pretoria.

Snaring, according to a SANParks statement, is motivated by “complex socio-economic and cultural drivers” with the symposium exploring snaring from a “myriad of angles and viewpoints”. Information gleaned at the symposium highlighted that animals are largely snared for personal or commercial use, and it is occurring “at unsustainable rates across all provinces and in diverse landscapes”. Species such as leopard, lion, hyena and other predators are killed as by-catch in snares originally set for bushmeat.

A “key takeaway” from the gathering is the need for less of a fortress mentality and a move to more community and sustainable use interaction among stakeholders to positive outcomes for the snaring threat. No solution will be credible without relevant community voices involved in “co-development of solutions”.

“Solutions need to be diverse, purposely inclusive and tailored to, and by, people living in affected areas,” read a statement regarding the symposium’s outcomes.

Among decisions adopted are further research on the drivers and alternative livelihood solutions, more cohesive legislation to address snaring and other wildlife crimes, more centralised reporting and monitoring to ascertain the extent of the problem, as well as creating a greater understanding of the impact of snaring not only on biodiversity as well as on the economy and well-being of communities.

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