Ministry condemns naked visitors in Namib Naukluft National Park

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has condemned a picture of naked tourists taking photos at the crest of the Big Daddy dune at Sossusvlei in the Namib-Naukluft National Park.

This comes after a local daily newspaper on Wednesday reported that visitors to Sossusvlei were shocked when they came across naked people in the park.

Ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda says the ministry is extremely shocked about the incident, labelling it as public indecency and in violation of park rules and regulations.

“It is a punishable act, according to the country’s laws. When this had been brought to our attention, we were shocked at the extent to which people could go,” Muyunda says.

He says the incident took place some time back, and by the time they received the report, the tourists had left Namibia already.

“We condemn this type of action as it does not only go against our morals but also violates the country’s laws,” Muyunda says.

He says tourists generally are law-abiding people, but there have been a few exceptions.

Muyunda says the ministry is appealing to those that come across violations of the law, or park rules and regulations, to report it to the ministry or the police so that swift action can be taken.

“We condemn this action strongly. We can look into the possibility of blacklisting them from entering any of our parks,” he says