The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), supported by the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) and the African National Congress (ANC), in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, have called for the Kruger National Park to be renamed.

In response, South Africa's Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, Dr Dion George, has made it clear that this will not happen.

According to the Democratic Alliance (DA) (George fills one of the DA's Cabinet slots in South Africa's unity government), the authority to change the park's name rests solely with the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment.

The DA further said that instead of addressing the real crises facing South Africans, namely corruption, service delivery collapse, crime, and unemployment, the ANC, MK, and EFF have chosen to indulge in revisionist and racialised politics. According to the DA, such theatrics only create unnecessary panic and distract from the issues that truly matter.

The DA also said that the Kruger National Park's brand is a global brand and the foundation of South Africa's thriving ecotourism economy, sustaining thousands of jobs and livelihoods. Undermining that brand for political gain would directly harm the very citizens these parties claim to represent.

SANParks, the agency that manages South Africa’s national parks, describes the Kruger Park as: “Truly the flagship of the South African National Parks…one of the most popular public-entry game parks in the world…offer[ing] a world-class wildlife experience with unparalleled diversity…it is home to 336 tree species, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds, and 147 mammals, and leads in environmental management techniques.”