South Africa – private game lodge vs public national park?

I am trying to decide between a 3 day private game lodge or 7 day safari tour (camping) in South Africa.
Anyone have any comments about what is better? What are the pros/cons of each?
Thanks!
Wow! Thanks for all the responses.
I must say I am very jealous of the people who get to live in such a beautiful and diverse country!
I have only started to browse the net and came across this one:

Itago http://www.itaga.co.za/default.asp

I think over the next few days I will have a better look and post another question about the lodges I am looking at.

Thanks again everyone!

i think you could compare 3 days in a private college or 3 weeks in a public college for an idea of what would be best for you.
obviously the private schooling system works !

doing 3 days in a private tour sounds fab and not so crowded/not so blasé…… but then if you’ve got lots of time on your hands and don’t need personal care or treatment, go for the average tour…..your gonna have a wonderful 1st trip….. you can always do the private tour another time , it’s mainly for older and very wealthy folks