TMNP Activity Card system - there has to be a better way

[marko35s]

1 hour ago, Zebra said:

Can you prove this? Not doubting you, just keen to know your source(s)?

Cheers

Chris
 

 

Go through the Tokaimtb accounts here - https://tokaimtb.com/tokaimtb-admin/

You will not find a cent from parks. Every bit of work on those trails (and in some cases jeep tracks too) is paid for by memberships, donations and trail sponsors.

[Milosh]

• To enter on a Wild Card membership at Table Mountain National Park's Gates, please present either a paper or electronic copy of your membership letter. The Gates no longer accept plastic Wild Cards as they are now considered obsolete.

[Milosh]

https://www.sanparks.org/wildcard_new/

[NC_lurker]

10 minutes ago, Milosh said:

• To enter on a Wild Card membership at Table Mountain National Park's Gates, please present either a paper or electronic copy of your membership letter. The Gates no longer accept plastic Wild Cards as they are now considered obsolete.

Wild card doesn't allow you cycling access. One needs a level 3 activity permit for that.

What's really special is that I can access Silvermine west with just my activity card if I'm on my bike or with my dog. But if neither of those two are with me, then the activity card doesn't grant access....  Impressive thinking by the SANParks team in Pretoria who came up with this stuff.

[Milosh]

1 minute ago, NC_lurker said:

Wild card doesn't allow you cycling access. One needs a level 3 activity permit for that.

What's really special is that I can access Silvermine west with just my activity card if I'm on my bike or with my dog. But if neither of those two are with me, then the activity card doesn't grant access....  Impressive thinking by the SANParks team in Pretoria who came up with this stuff.

It is a rabbit hole trying to work out what I need from that site, Level3 it is Thank you 

[NC_lurker]

9 minutes ago, Milosh said:

It is a rabbit hole trying to work out what I need from that site, Level3 it is Thank you 

It's significantly cheaper if you purchase your level-3 activity permit as a group of 4 people. Think it works out around R400 per person instead of R695.

Phone the Bike Park at Constantia Uitsig, they used to collate applications and then get them processed as groups. I'm fairly sure they still do it.

If you decide to go through to purchase it yourself, just make sure it's not during loadshedding. The Tokai SANParks office doesn't process applications when the power is off....they're zone 8

Edited June 13, 2023 by NC_lurker

[Anthem24]

And if you happen to lose your activity card and somebody hands it in at the Tokai boom, they will stick it in the window of the booth, but they won't call or e-mail to let you know it's there, despite making you fill in all those details on the application form.

There is no communication between the booth and the office that issues the card a km up the road. I was given all sorts of excuses about them being in different sections when I pointed this out a month or two ago, and suggested they up their service delivery game. 

[marko35s]

9 hours ago, Anthem24 said:

And if you happen to lose your activity card and somebody hands it in at the Tokai boom, they will stick it in the window of the booth, but they won't call or e-mail to let you know it's there, despite making you fill in all those details on the application form.

There is no communication between the booth and the office that issues the card a km up the road. I was given all sorts of excuses about them being in different sections when I pointed this out a month or two ago, and suggested they up their service delivery game. 

Different sections? Oh good grief...

Same section, different department which as far as I can tell means they are under some sort of legal obligation not to talk to each other.

Or they can't be arsed.

I know where I would place my bet.

[Zebra]

11 hours ago, marko35s said:

Go through the Tokaimtb accounts here - https://tokaimtb.com/tokaimtb-admin/

You will not find a cent from parks. Every bit of work on those trails (and in some cases jeep tracks too) is paid for by memberships, donations and trail sponsors.

Noted; thanks for informing me (us); was unaware, and I read through the statements.

Appreciate you taking time to post.

Cheers, Chris

[Shebeen]

12 hours ago, Zebra said:

Can you prove this? Not doubting you, just keen to know your source(s)?

Cheers

Chris
 

 

Hi Chris, yes I have a current activity card. It is paid for, but a load of admin schlepp(getting new passport photo being one totally avoidable item), which is divided by 4. 

I also pay for Tokai MTB, which is where the trails are actually funded by. Like a lot of the things in this country, we pay for the service twice in order to get it.

my source?

https://tokaimtb.com/

you'll find this on their frontpage

Quote

As a constituted non-profit company and founding member of the Table Mountain MTB forum, TokaiMTB represents your voice in mountain biking within the Table Mountain National Park.

Funds derived through the SANParks Level 3 Annual Activity permit or daily sales permits sold at the trailhead, don’t make their way directly back into the trails, the fees tumble instead into the Pretoria bank account before cross-subsidising National Parks across the country with low visitor numbers. Funds that do make their way back into the Table Mountain National Park are generally allocated to to conservation projects, so while we continue to negotiate for a percentage allocation of fees directly into the trails, it is vital that TokaiMTB has your support so we can continue to meet the stringent environmental requirements expected of all trails in a National Park.

The money raised through your membership and donations, as well as corporate sponsorship and support, enables TokaiMTB to develop and maintain a world-class network of mountain bike trails and provide you with safety through consistent visible patrols and emergency coordination, to help keep us all safer in our playground.

 

to answer your concerns, i don't think the moaning is about the actual money involved in the annual fees. it is that ZERO% goes back into the trails that actually generate it - and that it is a major hullabaloo to get it. Tokai used to be the crown jewel destination in CT mtb. Tygerberg has taken that cake six love because sanparks now owns the land the trails are on and does didly F-all with them (apart from charge for their usage).

 

 

[Jewbacca]

Is one of the issues not the fact that the card has multiple uses?

I mean, climbers, dog walkers, paragliders all apply for the same card.

TMNP grants permission to Takai MTB to use that section of the land FOR MTB, but nowhere does it say 'we are going all in for MTB'

They maintain most of the walking paths brilliantly, they catch poachers often, they do a fantastic job preserving and rehabilitating parts of the mountain DESPITE people not following/obeying the No Entry signs etc

I'm not happy that it's a pay twice system, but in reality, the MTB/cycling part of the contract as well as the actual Cyclists part is a headache for them.

If they then said 'OK, we will sell a MTB only' card, would they then use that money to maintain the trails/roads to and from the Block house AND Tokai and other state owned trail land? The Glen?

Or would they need to separate Tokai? Then you would still need another permit to ride to Block House etc

Looking at it as an overall, my takeaway (aside from the mismanagement and fund appropriation in HQ) is priority of what a National Park actually is.

It isn't a MTB park, but it has one in it which they allow.

 

[Shebeen]

9 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

Is one of the issues not the fact that the card has multiple uses?

I mean, climbers, dog walkers, paragliders all apply for the same card.

TMNP grants permission to Takai MTB to use that section of the land FOR MTB, but nowhere does it say 'we are going all in for MTB'

They maintain most of the walking paths brilliantly, they catch poachers often, they do a fantastic job preserving and rehabilitating parts of the mountain DESPITE people not following/obeying the No Entry signs etc

I'm not happy that it's a pay twice system, but in reality, the MTB/cycling part of the contract as well as the actual Cyclists part is a headache for them.

If they then said 'OK, we will sell a MTB only' card, would they then use that money to maintain the trails/roads to and from the Block house AND Tokai and other state owned trail land? The Glen?

Or would they need to separate Tokai? Then you would still need another permit to ride to Block House etc

Looking at it as an overall, my takeaway (aside from the mismanagement and fund appropriation in HQ) is priority of what a National Park actually is.

It isn't a MTB park, but it has one in it which they allow.

 

the mtb trails predate the National park, pretty sure part of the framework/negotiation to be incorporated as a NP was that trails are included as part of it, to what level I'm not sure. There's a lot of good arguments that it shouldn't be a NP but would be better managed by CoCT or CapeNature but that's a different discussion.

I speak under correction but i think you do tick what activities you want for activity level three. So they would have data on dog walker vs paraglider vs mtb vs rock climbing, and the combos too.

but the amount of additional money spent on facilites for dog walking (zero) and paragliding(a ramp that hasn't been upgraded since jan landed his ship) or rock climbing (zero) is different to mtb trail building.

 

day permits for mtb is obvs easy to allocate directly to revenue from mtb.

 

 

[Duane_Bosch]

12 hours ago, NC_lurker said:

Wild card doesn't allow you cycling access. One needs a level 3 activity permit for that.

What's really special is that I can access Silvermine west with just my activity card if I'm on my bike or with my dog. But if neither of those two are with me, then the activity card doesn't grant access....  Impressive thinking by the SANParks team in Pretoria who came up with this stuff.

I know a guy who takes his bike with him to surf in the reserve for this very reason.

[Shebeen]

20 minutes ago, Duane_Bosch said:

I know a guy who takes his bike with him to surf in the reserve for this very reason.

The ole taking my mtb to go swim in silvermine dam trick...

[porqui]

Cherry on top - SanParks gets money from PPA which is duly used for boardwalks for hiking none of it used for cycling. It does not get better. (Zebra - source - same as previous one)

We have a beautiful land.

Edited June 14, 2023 by porqui

[Robbie Stewart]

3 hours ago, Shebeen said:

Tokai used to be the crown jewel destination in CT mtb. Tygerberg has taken that cake six love because...

ahem, Jonkershoek owns that title.