The employees of the Kruger National Park were honoured for exceptional performance in their duties on Friday, 07 November 2025, at the annual KNP Achievements Awards held at the Nombolo Mdluli Conference Centre, in the iconic national park.

This awards programme is part of the KNP management initiative, acknowledging its hard-working employees who go beyond the call of duty daily, following the end of a financial reporting period. Employees are rewarded based on merit and their contributions towards the organisation’s success.

This year’s awards come against the background of SANParks’ impressive achievements in its operational and financial performance for the 2024/25 financial year, reporting a 10 % increase in revenue from R3.67-billion to R4.1-billion in 2024/25. On the operational front, SANParks achieved 86% of its performance. SANParks also received an unqualified audit outcome for the past year, affirming the strength of its financial governance and management practices.

Amongst the award recipients were those outstanding in the workplace, others gave outstanding service to clients, some worked well as a team, whilst some showed a great deal of creativity. Some of the winners have worked tirelessly in the organisation for over three decades. There were also employees who showed bravery and rescued their colleagues in the face of imminent danger, showing a great deal of determination, built with the quality of their actions and the integrity thereof.

Awards were given to KNP Staff members who either excelled in the categories of “excellent performance in the workplace” and “best customer service to clients” in the past year or over a long period. Other awards categories given were: “Leadership Award”, “Research, Initiative and Innovation Award”, Best Constituency Builder Award”, “Lifetime Achievement Award”, “Bravery Award”, “Ranger Post of the Year”, “Camp of the Year”, “Bush Camp of the Year”, “Wilderness Trails Camp of the Year”, “Entrance Gate of the Year” and “Managing Executive Special Awards”.

Four staff members, namely Albert Mkansi, Vusi Lubisi, Katekani Sibuyi and Nicolus Mathebula stole the limelight for scooping the Bravery Award in recognition of their bravery by placing their own lives in danger and single-handedly confronting armed suspected poachers as well as dangerous animals. The bravery award, also known as the Kruger Cross, is the highest in the KNP and is awarded to a candidate who has performed an act of exceptional bravery to save a colleague, tourist or any person’s or animal’s life.

Management also bestowed the Lifetime Contribution Award on four long-serving employees – Oupa Manzini (28 years of service), Richard Vukeya (31 years of service), Jairos Chiloane (34 years of service), and James Mdluli (35 years of service), who were recognised for having made a significant contribution to SANParks over an extensive career of unbroken service.

All the finalists went through a selection phase based on a set of stringent criteria. Apart from their extra mile achievements, individual nominees had to possess qualities such as independent and progressive thinking, initiative and creativity, a positive approach to work, leadership and the ability to interact at all levels regardless of training and skills.

The awards for facilities were judged on areas such as overall performance, implementation of various systems, financial performance and management, guest complaints and compliments, compliance with policies and general neatness of the facility.