The Democratic Alliance (DA) has dismissed a motion in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature to rename the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport and the Kruger National Park, calling it “political posturing” with no legal force.

The motion, tabled by the EFF and backed by the ANC and MK parties, seeks to alter two of the country’s best-known tourism brands. But according to DA MP Willie Aucamp, provincial legislatures have no power to rename national parks or features that fall under the authority of the South African Geographical Names Council and the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries.

Aucamp warned that any move to strip the Kruger National Park of its internationally recognised identity would deal a devastating blow to tourism. “Changing the name of South Africa’s most attractive and defining tourism drawcard would wipe out decades of goodwill and recognition,” he said. The park draws millions of dollars, euros, and pounds into the economy each year, sustaining thousands of jobs in hotels, restaurants, transfers, car hire, and guiding services. Beyond lost income, the DA highlighted the massive cost of such a rebrand. Every road sign, map, uniform, and official document would require replacement, running into millions of rands at a time when public finances are already strained.

The party has pledged to resist what it terms “Doomsday Coalition” politics, arguing that retrospective name changes waste money and undermine livelihoods. It maintains that unless names are clearly offensive, they should remain as they are.