4x4, quad owners face crackdown
12 February 2008

This comes after complaints that South African 4x4 owners have been causing large-scale damage to ecologically-sensitive areas in some neighbouring states.

Namibia and Mozambique were reportedly most upset by what they termed "the damage done by quad bikes and four-wheel-drive vehicles from South Africa to the ecology of beaches and other environmentally sensitive areas", according to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

Ministers and senior officials from the two countries, as well as Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe met earlier this week to discuss the matter with Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk at a conference in Gauteng.  The main topics of the conference were the development of cross-border conservation zones (CBCZs), as well as premier tourism destinations for the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament, and beyond.

But, the four-wheel-drive question was also added to the agenda. The ministers expressed their concern at the damage being done to ecologically sensitive areas by 4x4 vehicles and quad bikes from South Africa and asked Minister van Schalkwyk to put a stop to harmful practices.

They said the regulations governing 4x4s in South Africa had resulted in greater pressure on sensitive areas in neighbouring states. Van Schalkwyk said a protocol was being considered for the entire region, to curb or manage these activities.

Theuns van der Westhuizen, www.wheels24.co.za