KNP to remove Mingerhout Dam near Letaba Rest Camp
The demolition of this artificial dam will be conducted from January 24 to February 6 as part of the park's rehabilitation programme. Read about the reasoning behind the project and also which sites have been demolished since 2012.
As part of an almost two-week-long demolition operation, the Mingerhout Dam close to Letaba Rest Camp will be demolished.
The operation, run by the Kruger National Park (KNP) in conjunction with the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be conducted from January 24 to February 6.
The dam, originally built in 1974 and located on the S47, is about nine kilometres north-west of Letaba Rest Camp.
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Explosives will be used to demolish the structure, after which the rubble will be removed as part of the rehabilitation process.
According to Isaac Phaahla, spokesperson for the KNP, the removal of man-made structures began in the late 1990s with breaching dams and removing windmills.
There is no set date for the end of this process as a whole, as there will always be a need for various ecosystem rehabilitation options.
“The SANDF was first used in the park to demolish concrete structures, such as the damaged weirs on the Crocodile River soon after the 2000 floods, and thereafter the programme started to collaborate with the SANDF for further demolitions.
“Expanded Public Works (Biodiversity Social Projects or BSP) teams are used for the post-removal rehabilitation as they clear the concrete and rubble from the site.”
Phaahla also mentioned that during the same time, some remaining parts of the Kanniedood Dam near Shingwedzi Rest Camp will be demolished as well.
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“To ensure the safety of tourists, all roads in the two areas will be temporarily closed from January 24 to February 6.”
The affected roads are:
• The S47 gravel road in Letaba. The entire loop of S47 will be closed from the junction of S47 and H1-6 to the junction of S47 and S131.
• The S50 gravel road in Shingwedzi. This will be closed from the junction of S50 and S134 in Shingwedzi to the junction of S50 and S143 in Mooiplaas.
Regarding animal safety, an aerial sweep of the site will be done prior to demolitions. The park said it will be proactively sharing information with its guests.
Since the Mingerhout Dam’s construction in the 1970s by the then Parks Board, it has silted up over the years to the extent that it is no longer serving its purpose as a dam. It is close to Engelhardt, another dam also near Letaba, 16 kilometres away.
Phaahla said time was taken for this decision. “This was a very long and consultative process with many stakeholders and on a long history of data, with approval by the KNP’s Conservation Management Committee.
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“These decisions are guided by scientific evidence of detrimental impact to the state of the system.
“Essentially, where water was not supposed to naturally be available in the veld during the dry season for the KNP, artificial water points were scheduled to be removed. However, water for domestic use due to rest camps and staff as well as water for game-viewing at tourist spots was taken into account.”
The KNP has an artificial water provision policy which allows for these operations.
The park said artificial water holes where water did not previously occur naturally have led to numerous ecological problems like erosion and other environmental degradations such as barriers to fish migration routes.
“Conservation Management has taken steps to rectify these negative consequences. To enhance the tourist experience, alternative game-viewing opportunities will be provided in the future at areas of naturally occurring surface water,” said Phaahla.
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“There is a long list of man-made structures that needs to be removed as part of the policy. Removal of structures range from windmills, reservoirs, troughs, concrete dams, weirs and earthen dams.
A few sites that have been demolished since 2012 include the following:
• Concrete reservoir and troughs – Matlhari, Bejwane, Manyavula, Nshawu No 1
• Concrete weirs – Nwanetsana, Bangu 2, Black Heron, Shimuwini
• Concrete dam wall – Sirheni and
• Earthen dams – Nhlanganzwani, Silolweni, to name a few.
