The City is looking at taking back the management of the Table Mountain National Park, including lucrative money-spinners such as Cape Point and Boulders Beach.

It also plans to halt the transfer of any more land into the park, which was established in 1998 with vast tracts of council-owned land. Before that the city managed the park.

At a council meeting late last month, the city resolved to launch an investigation into taking back the park with a view to using the money generated at facilities like Cape Point and Boulders for the management of the parks and the animals, including the baboons.

At present, funds generated by cash cows such as Cape Point subsidise parks in other parts of the country.

Marian Nieuwoudt, mayoral committee member for planning and environment, told Weekend Argus the city would not be transferring any more land to the park until operational matters in managing the park were resolved.

She said she was unhappy with several aspects of management.

"They cherry pick sexy things like the penguins but exclude the baboons." Other concerns are poaching, crime and the cutting down of trees.

At the council meeting, funding of R4,75-million was approved to keep baboon monitors in the field until the end of this financial year.

The city has appealed to the Cape High Court to urgently decide what role and financial responsibility each sphere of government has to fulfil in baboon management, as the city is the only funder.

Nieuwoudt said that should the other parties not contribute financially to baboon management in coming years, the city would have to provide close to R10m annually.

The park did a good job with its management of flora but fauna management was a matter of concern, she said. Mayoral committee member for economic development and tourism Felicity Purchase said the city felt the park management was not meeting its obligations. The area would still be proclaimed as a park if the city took over management, she said.

Purchase said among the city's concerns was rampant poaching. Large quantities of abalone were poached, especially at Cape Point and some rangers were involved or turned a blind eye to poachers for bribes.

In January a former SA National Parks employee and a police reservist were arrested in connection with a robbery at the Cape Point entrance. They made off with 14 cash boxes containing more than R1m, although police later recovered five boxes containing about R600 000.

Residents have also been up in arms about several "controlled burns" that raged out of control.