SANParks concerned about impersonation on social media 

Date: 21 December 2017 By: Andries van Zyl

SANParks expressed concern last week over the rapid increase of groups on social media platforms impersonating the South African National Parks and some of the national parks under its management.

This is according to SANParks Head of Communications, Janine Raftopoulos. She said the mushrooming of various groups making reference to the country’s national parks authority passing off their products for personal and commercial gain, has gained concerning momentum which is putting SANParks and its patrons at risk. “… there is at any given time between 30 to 60 active platforms, mainly on social media, claiming to have links with SANParks. This practice constitutes infringement of SANParks registered trademarks, which could result in litigation,” said Raftopoulos.

Raftopoulos said the practice has seen establishments of agents acting as travel agents, people creating mobile apps, publishers of literature, maps, magazines, diaries, marketing apparel, and domain names, as well as crowd-fund sourcing agents and third-party emergency contact numbers that mislead the public, some of which are for commercial purposes. It is important to note that fundraising can only be done officially through the SANParks website and the Honorary Ranger. This is undertaken without SANParks' permission or for the benefit of our national parks. “It is for this reason that SANParks would like to make the public aware and, more importantly, inform those behind these platforms that there are legal implications whereby SANParks may institute legal proceedings, should people continue using its name or national parks under its management unlawfully,” said Raftopoulos.

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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