Skukuza Camp Site Flooded as Kruger National Park Receives Welcome Downpour of Rain

MPUMALANGA – The Sabie River near Skukuza in the Kruger National Park has been overflowing today after a heavy downpour of much prayed-for rain. ASHLEIGH ROBERTSON filmed the video footage below of the overflowing river, as well as the Skukuza camp site which was flooded.

Ashleigh, from Hilton in KZN, filmed the overseas tourists’ tents this morning and said that by this afternoon they had (understandably!) packed up and left.

Although tents were drenched, bridges flooded and roads and gates within South Africa’s famous national park were closed – the rain is still very welcome after the Kruger has been suffering with extremely dry conditions from one of the worst droughts in living history.

SANParks (SA National Parks) spokesperson William Mabasa said that with “water all over the place”, in order to ensure visitors’ safety “we have closed all the gravel roads south of the Sabie River until further notice. We would also want to inform our visitors that the road from Skukuza to Malelane and Pretoriuskop is closed at the Delaport Bridge. Access roads between Skukuza and Lower Sabie are also closed for now until the Sabie River subsides.”

The heavy rains began during the night and continued today. Karen Le Roux Tan uploaded the above photo of the view from a riverside bungalow at Skukuza. The first pic of the river was taken just yesterday! The second today, Saturday 7 January 2017.

Skukuza, set on the southern banks of the Sabie River, is the main camp at the Kruger National Park, and is where the Park has its administrative headquarters. It is also the largest rest camp in the country.

Watch Videos: Skukuza Camp Site and Sabie River Flooded, Kruger National Park

All videos by Ashleigh Robertson.

This morning a brave fire fighter in the province tragically lost his life in after successfully saving a taxi driver whose vehicle got stranded on a flooded low-level bridge in Kwaggafontein. The fireman returned to rescue a female passenger when the taxi was washed away by the force of the water.