DC32/NAMM/0006

Founders of the Kruger National Park. Stephanus Johannes Paulus (Paul) Kruger, President of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Transvaal ) from 1883-1902. Through his farsighted statesmanship he was largely instrumental in fostering an awareness of nature conservation in this old Boer Republic. In 1894 he proclaimed the country's first conservation area , the old Pongola Reserve. At the suggestion of two members of the volksraad, R.K, Loveday and J.L. van Wijk, he proclaimed the Sabie Game Reserve, the nucleus of the present Kruger National Park, on 26 March 1898. In doing so he left a living monument and earned himself a place of honour as the founder of nature conservation in the Transvaal. Pieter Gert Wessel (Piet) Grobler, Minister of Lands in the Union of South Africa, piloted in the National Parks bill through Parliament on 31 May 1926. This simultaneously led to the proclaimation of the Kruger National Park, the first national park in South Africa. Under his guidance the national parks system was expanded in 1931 by the proclamation of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park , the Bontebok National Park and the Addo Elephant National Park. Ltd Col James Stevenson-Hamilton became warden of the Sabie Reserve on 1 July 1902 after the cessation of the Anglo-Boer War, and later also the Shingwedzi Reserve. He played a leading role in the preservation and management of both reserves as well as their consolidation and proclamation as the Kruger National Park in 1926, of which he remained warden until his retirement on 30 April 1946.