Seven years after it first opened its doors, the Mthatha Dam resort Luchaba Nature Reserve has added two state-of-the-art self-catering chalets to the facility.
The one chalet has three bedrooms, a kitchen and lounge, while the other has two bedrooms.
They were officially handed over by the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) together with KSD municipality mayor Nyaniso Nelani to Narita Sankoya, a tourism company led by military veterans, which is responsible for running the resort.
ECPTA’s regional marine and coastal manager, Vuyani Mapiya, told the Dispatch at the handover on Monday that the two chalets had cost R16m to build.
The facility, located on the banks of the Mthatha Dam, was officially opened by then-deputy water & environmental affairs minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi to much fanfare in 2015.
At the time it boasted two conference halls that could accommodate up to 158 people, a boardroom and a restaurant that could cater for 150.
It was envisaged that it would eventually also have a gymnasium, cruise boats and accommodation units, including chalets.
On Monday, Mapiya said the project had been done in phases, the first phase consisting of the restaurant and conference venue.
The chalets were part of the second phase.
“About R20m was spent on the first phase, but the project has other activities like watersports, campsites and picnic sites that are still to be included. Some activities have not yet been costed, but we are looking at a total investment of up to R60m or R70m once everything has been done,” he said.
Even though it is run by a privately owned company, the facility is a partnership between ECPTA, Narita Sankoya and residents of 13 villages in the Ncise administrative area under Mthatha.
Mapiya also revealed that the project had encountered challenges when it came to its operational model, which had led to delays.
He said one of the primary aims of the project was to ensure rural communities were able to extract economic value from it. It was also meant to help contribute to local economic development efforts in the KSD municipality.
One of the operators of the facility from Narita Sankoya, Mzwandile Vena, a former uMkhonto Wesizwe freedom fighter, said their responsibility was to train people from the benefiting villages who would be able to run the facility once the concession agreement lapsed. At that point, the company would ease out of the partnership, allowing the communities to run it themselves.
As operators of the facility, they were also entrusted with the responsibility of employing as many local youths as possible.
Vena said before Covid-19 their salary bill was about R150,000 a month, but they were forced to lay off many of the young people who worked there as a result of the pandemic.
“Now it’s like we are starting from scratch. But with the chalets it means we will now be able to employ some of those young people we lost.”
In 2018, the facility hosted World Tourism Month.
Nelani, however, expressed concern that the development was happening at a snail’s pace. He said unemployment was still at its highest in the KSD municipality despite “having this asset”.
He said during the World Tourism Month event, many commitments and promises had been made, including the introduction of a cruise boat at the facility, but so far none of those commitments had come to life.
But Luchaba Nature Reserve Forum chair Cawekazi Flatela told the Dispatch the facility had already brought a lot of positive change for the 13 Ncise villages.
Some of their children were now employed at the reserve.
“We want to see more young people employed instead of frequenting taverns, where they fall into a life of crime and drugs,” Flatela said.
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.