The recent disturbing attack on long-time residents and the owners of Mdumbi Backpackers will, once again, lead to the perception that the entire Wild Coast is unsafe.
It was an appalling incident in which the family — including a toddler — were terrorised and assaulted into giving up the little cash they had in their home to a group of gun-wielding thugs.
The assailants cared little for the damage they inflicted on their victims, or the reputation of the area.
Those who frequent that coastline know that most people in communities along the Wild Coast are warm and most welcoming to tourists.
There is the recognition of the potential of tourism to provide much-needed jobs and growth in the area.
But when there are attacks on tourists and residents in these beautiful and remote areas, it has the effect of the entire Wild Coast being blacklisted by would-be visitors.
And so, in the wake of the attack, the Wild Coast once again faced numerous cancellations from tourists who had made their bookings well in advance.
Tourism operators and businesses that rely on tourists have warned they will have to consider closing or relocating as their profits plummet.
The district business chamber says the area is losing about R10m a year to cancellations — before considering the long term knock-on effects.
The Wild Coast is almost without equal when it comes to rugged beauty.
It is a place where pristine dense forest melds into spectacular dune forest which stretches its way down to wide beaches and warm blue sea.
There are dozens of estuaries rich with nursery fish and other river life flowing into the ocean.
What is the point of using public funds to build a glass bridge if tourists fear being mugged on it?
It is a place where cattle cautiously join people on the beach in the heat of the day to avoid biting flies and to cool off. It is a place of varied and extreme beauty.
The government comes up with bizarre, grand and ridiculous plans to attract tourists to the area and turn it into what one MEC described as the “new Dubai”.
These include building glass bridges across the majestic Magwa falls, lifts that run tourists up and down the deep gorge and opening tea rooms offering visitors the chance to taste locally grown tea.
These unrealistic plans never materialise because they would never work.
What is the point of using public funds to build a glass bridge if tourists fear being mugged on it?
Tourism is something that develops and evolves naturally if it is allowed to.
The government should simply facilitate it by providing the necessary infrastructure to make the area accessible and safe in consultation with communities.
If it is beautiful, accessible and safe, the Wild Coast will finally come into its own.
If only the government would do its bit.
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.