Drakensberg Cableway

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Cable Car in the Drakensberg?

Post by Sprocky »

2012-05-15 12:08

Pietermaritzburg - A cable car that takes tourists to the top of one of the world’s most dramatic and unspoilt mountain regions might sound like a gem of an idea and one that could grace glossy travel brochures the world over, but do we really need it?

That is the question on the lips of local environmental specialists in response to an announcement on the Drakensberg cable car proposal at the Indaba 2012.

On Sunday, Michael Mabuyakhulu, KZN Economic Development and Tourism MEC, said a feasibility study was on the cards and that a “master plan” had identified the cable car as a must-have for the KwaZulu-Natal region to boost tourism and provide job creation.

World Heritage Site

One of the preferred sites for the cable car was in the Mnweni Valley near the Royal Natal National Park section of the World Heritage Site.

The proposed summit station would be in Lesotho at a height three times that of Table Mountain. The cable length would be three kilometres.

Crispin Hemson, the Durban-based chairperson of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa), said that while eco-tourism had huge potential for South Africa it had to be thought through “at a deeper level and very carefully”.

The proposed cable car plan, he said, was grandiose and would certainly attract a great deal of interest and controversy if it went ahead.

“But the real question is whether such a facility would damage the very asset that the cable car is intended to celebrate. It is both unique and very sensitive, and should be approached with considerable caution and respect. The next question is the practicality and feasibility of such a proposal.”

He believed comparing Drakensberg with Table Mountain as a cable car destination conveyed the wrong impression.

“Table Mountain … is in the centre of the city. These are not wild and remote destinations like the Drakensberg mountain range. You don’t have to travel for hours to get there, which in revenue terms is important.”

Weather

The weather in the Drakensberg range, said Hemson, was also “hugely unpredictable” and potentially dangerous.

“We now have much better understanding of the occurrence of tornadoes in the Drakensberg region; we also know that the area has a very high rate of lightning. If you look at a lightning map of the world, you will see the problem, compared say to Cape Town. A combination of extreme winds and electrical disruption may make the project just too vulnerable.”

He said there were many environmental and archaeological tourism opportunities in KwaZulu-Natal that were being overlooked.

“As just one example, we are not sufficiently responding to the tourist potential of birding, which can attract large numbers of high-spending tourists who are prepared to choose KZN, despite the long-haul flight. It’s a discerning market that wants something different - I don’t believe a cable car will do it for us,” he said.

There are others who believe that a cable car that would take visitors to dizzy heights has merit.

Professor Rob Slotow, of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Life Sciences, said he believed that making the high-mountain experience available for more people outweighed the cost of losing a “sense of space” in a small area.

- The Witness


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Drakensberg Cableway

Post by Flutterby »

R500m plan for KZN cableway

July 31 2013 at 09:18am
By Tony Carnie

Durban - The provincial government has thrown its political weight behind a “game-changing” plan to boost tourism in KwaZulu-Natal by creating a 7km cable car route to the top of the Drakensberg at a cost of R500-million.

If the plan goes ahead, the cable car will carry visitors to the top of the escarpment near the Royal Natal National Park and return at a cost of around R200 for adults, with a journey time of about 22 minutes each way.

Releasing an 80-page feasibility study into the project in Durban on Tuesday, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu said he was convinced the project would dramatically improve tourism revenue in KZN and attract at least 300 000 cable-car visitors a year (820 a day).

The report is likely to spark rigorous debate with several observers questioning whether the scheme makes financial sense for investors.

The proposed base station would be located in the rural Mnweni area, at least 40km off the main N3, near KZN’s border with Lesotho and the Free State.

The panoramic summit site is Mount Amery, which is situated between the Ifidi Pass and the Amphitheatre.

It was not clear who would pay the construction costs of between R420m and R500m or the annual operating costs of around R20m, but Mabuyakhulu appealed to private investors to “join hands with the government in making this project a success”.

Previous plans to build a cable car and ca-sino in the same area were vigorously opposed by wilderness and mountain conservation groups, and the latest project is likely to be met with a similar degree of opposition.

Although the Mount Amery site is on communal land owned by the Ingonyama Trust, the site is a stone’s throw from the boundary of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg World Heritage Site which is protected under a UN convention as an area of “outstanding universal value”.

Mabuyakhulu recognised the need to “strike a balance between environmental preservation and potential economic fortunes” and committed the provincial government to a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) rather than a more rudimentary basis assessment process.

There would be no “short cuts” in the EIA process and the province would prefer to get buy-in from all stakeholders.

Nevertheless, said the MEC, the provincial government was not shy about stating its strong support for the project, which he believed would “dramatically change the tourism landscape of the province” and “awaken the sleeping giant of the Drakensberg region”.

“We chose this area owing to the fact that it is not only one of the world’s breathtaking natural wonders, but also because it has the potential of further enhancing the competitiveness of the province with regard to adventure tourism.”

But Steve Cooke, a local mountaineer and retired mechanical engineer, who helped to compile a previous pre-feasibility study for a similar project more than a decade ago, warned that the cable car was likely to become a “white elephant”.

“People look at the massive revenues from the Table Mountain cable car and think this success can be transposed to the Drakensberg – but… the Table Mountain base station is just 18km away from an international airport in an iconic tourist city of almost 8 million people.

“But in the case of the Berg, the cable station is in a remote rural area at least three hours from Durban and a similar distance from Johannesburg.

“Table Mountain is a flat and pleasant environment at a height of about 1 000m, whereas the top of Berg site is at over 3 000m in a semi-arid, high-mountain environment where the temperatures can drop to -15ºC in winter in the daytime. In the summer you can set your watch by the start of the regular afternoon thunderstorms.”

But Graham Muller, the consultant whose company prepared the latest feasibility study, insisted that poor weather would not derail the feasibility.

He said that around 75 percent of rainfall in the Berg was between noon and midnight, and this meant that mornings were the best times for trips.

Late afternoon thunderstorms tended to be “short and shallow” and while there were generally 137 rain days in Royal Natal National Park each year, most rain fell in the afternoon and would “not interfere with cableway visitor numbers in a significant manner”.

Wilderness Action Group chairman Ilan Lax has expressed “deep concern” about the potential of the project to degrade the wilderness values and sense of peace of the region.

Copies of the feasibility study are due to be posted on the website of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism this week. - The Mercury


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Re: Drakensberg Cableway

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‘Not enough feet’ for Drakensberg cableway
BY NCE MKHIZE AND NICK HEDLEY, AUGUST 01 2013, 07:26


THE mooted R500m development of a cableway in KwaZulu-Natal’s scenic Drakensberg mountains has been welcomed as a major lift for tourism in the region, but concern has been raised about the attraction’s ability to cover its costs.

The province’s MEC for economic development and tourism, Mike Mabuyakhulu, on Tuesday unveiled a feasibility study for the project, saying it was aimed at attracting both local and international tourists and was expected to draw at least 300,000 visitors each year.

The cableway would operate between a base station in the Mnweni valley, west of Bergville, to a summit station on Mount Amery in the Royal Natal National Park, at a cost of about R200 an adult.

As the hugely popular cableway at Cape Town’s Table Mountain pulls 855,000 visitors each year, the Drakensberg project is expected to operate more in the league of the Aerial Cableway Hartbeespoort, northwest of Johannesburg.

As part of its drive to develop attractions that stimulate domestic tourism, the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation has punted the idea of a cable car in the northern part of the Drakensberg escarpment at the Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga.

The cableway announced by Mr Mabuyakhulu on Tuesday would climb about 1,300m to the summit, which is 3,300m above sea level and would offer panoramic views over parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho and the Free State.

Sabine Lehmann, MD at the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company, said while any new attraction would be a lift for tourism, “you have got to be careful that the attraction is appropriately sized and priced for its area”.

“All cableways are dependent on two things: the capital investment — which is major, and the number of feet you can get through your doors,” Ms Lehmann said.

She said cableways required continual and substantial maintenance investments running into tens of millions of rand, “so it is really important that you have a good understanding of how many visitors will come through the door”.

“I think the visitor numbers (in the Drakensberg) … are too small” for the project to cover its costs, Ms Lehmann said. She said an attraction such as a boardwalk or treetop walkway “could be just as attractive for a fraction of the cost”.

Advisory firm Grant Thornton has punted a cableway development as one of three projects with the potential to significantly improve KwaZulu-Natal tourism. The firm’s head, Gillian Saunders, said while the cableway would not see nearly as many visitors as Table Mountain’s, “I do think there’s merit in it”.

Ms Saunders said she expected the cableway to be “a great attraction that will boost tourism in the area and will boost tourism in the province, and it will say something about the province”.

“I would concur that it might not be self-sustainable, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” she said, given that tourists would spend money and create spin-off jobs.

Ms Saunders said with the number of people travelling through the Drakensberg between Johannesburg and Durban, there was a “massive” market to tap. “It would stimulate a lot of domestic tourism and there would be some cherry on the top from international tourists.”

The Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa’s East Coast operational manager, Charles Preece, said the region needed such an attraction to promote economic growth and tourism.

Local hotels and B&Bs have been struggling due to poor road infrastructure, especially in the northern part of the Drankensberg, “which is impassable”, he said. “As a result, employment levels in the area are very low because there is no economic activity.”

He said the planned project would revive the local economy, develop infrastructure and draw a substantial number of local and international tourists.

Tom Howard, who runs a B&B in the area, said while the region had been struggling, “we are very hopeful that once things start moving tourists would come back to this area and see for themselves the unspoilt beauty of this region”.


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Re: Drakensberg Cableway

Post by Flutterby »

Drakensberg cableway: Pie in the sky?
4 August 2013 14:00

The KwaZulu-Natal government has just released the findings of a feasibility study which examined possible sites and set-ups for a cable car system in the Drakensberg. Here’s what they found.

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Re: Drakensberg Cableway

Post by Flutterby »

NB :: 7km long according to the consultants. Note: Cape Town’s Table Mountain cableway is 700m long.

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Re: Drakensberg Cableway

Post by Flutterby »

Comment from “TimConWild” Conservation:
Why don’t the political cadres first ask what the people think about how the R500 million should allocated ?? If the ANC has R500 million to squander (which generates only 35 direct jobs), it could undoubtedly be better spent salvaging widespread dismal community infrastructure collapse which is the hallmark of the incompetence & corruption in the post-apartheid era.

Just one of hundreds of examples of the government's display of eco-arrogance, this is the widespread KZN tourism image which horrifies International visitors - an aesthetic & health priority which should be allocated some of the mysterious “R500 million”!!

Durban Bay - Mangrove Beach, Photo - Mark Liptrot
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One of the tourist access roads entering Mtubatuba en route to St.Lucia & the acclaimed iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
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Re: Drakensberg Cableway

Post by Flutterby »

White elephants in the Berg

17 Jul 2013
Chris Sommer

THE idea of a cableway in the Drakensberg is not new. It has, however, recently received fresh impetus and media attention. Various locations for the project have been considered, in particular the Mnweni area situated in the northern Drakensberg.

As a group of concerned people who are very familiar with the Mnweni, and who cumulatively have been exploring the Drakensberg for many decades, we are concerned that this project will become a white elephant should it go ahead. We believe the idea is particularly unsuited to the Mnweni and that it is neither sustainable nor desirable in the Berg as a whole.

The following is a list of considerations supporting our concern.

The cableway proposal was already evaluated a few years ago by the Federation of Drakensberg User Groups, and in a detailed report released by them it was shown to be not economically viable.

Further to the report mentioned above, we wish to emphasise that the low number of days that the cableway can be expected to operate, or be supported by tourists, will result in major economic loss.

In the summer months, mist and cloud typically envelope the escarpment by mid-morning and stay for the rest of the day. The view from the escarpment itself is non-existent on these days. In winter, the strongest winds anywhere in southern Africa, which are part of the circumpolar westerlies, blow over the escarpment.
Once the night-time surface temperature inversion is removed by the morning sun, the fierce wind mixes down to the surface to produce gusts which are often in excess of 100 kilometres per hour —  well beyond the operating threshold of cableways. Hikers experience this wind routinely and data gathered by climate scientists from this remote region confirms this. Another vital clue to the existence of these winds is the proposed wind farms in the highlands of Lesotho.

The safety of the cableway operation and its clientele should be taken into consideration. The extreme weather already mentioned above can close in very quickly and could leave many passengers stranded at high altitudes.

Furthermore, lightning strikes occur on the escarpment almost daily in summer, and multiple strikes occur on more than 100 days per year.

We also draw attention to the cross-border smuggling in the region. Many tons of narcotics are trafficked from Lesotho into South Africa over the Drakensberg, something that hikers regularly see first-hand. We question the wisdom in drawing high numbers of tourists into such an area, especially where shoot-outs occur between rival bands of smugglers, and where raids and ambushes are undertaken by the authorities at times. An influx of people with relative wealth to the area could also lead to the development of theft problems. We cite the long-standing theft problems in the neighbouring Amphitheatre area, and the muggings taking place on Table Mountain, as examples of what can happen.

The local community does not want the project. “The cableway will destroy our community and our wilderness (ihlane),” said Mkwazeni Hlongwane, in a recent media statement, where he also stated that various cultural and community activities, such as medicinal plant harvesting, would be adversely affected.
“There has been no consultation with the community; we are not happy about the process,” he said. “One thousand people survive here because of what the mountains give us. The cableway will employ 100, but what about the other 900?”

The process of formally declaring the upper reaches of the Mnweni a conservation area has already begun.

This is a major milestone in the history of the Drakensberg, and the aim is a form of integration with the current uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park — World Heritage Site. This status will require that any present and future planning and development follow the correct environmental and social impact assessments, and may even halt proposals altogether.

The escarpment top is a bleak area. It is a far cry from the lush valleys and the fast-flowing rivers of the lower Berg. It is extremely cold, damp and wind-swept, with a vegetation type that resembles semi-desert in large areas of the region concerned. While this may be appealing to a few, we question if there is sufficient interest to see this kind of landscape to make a project of this scale viable and justified.

It is understood that there may be arguments in favour of the cableway in that it will boost revenue from tourism and create jobs.
However, smart, not risky investment is needed in KwaZulu-Natal. There already is a long track record of poorly scoped, failed tourist development, and we believe the proposed cableway could add another white elephant to the list. We would rather see KwaZulu-Natal take its example from the Waterfront in Cape Town, and not the cableway on Table Mountain.

A far better investment would be to start consolidating the Durban Port zone, which is a mess of fragmented development between the Point and the embankment.
We call for wise investment and sensible initiatives for the long-term benefit and sustainability of both the Drakensberg and the province.

• Chris Sommer writes on behalf of the community of Drakensberg user groups represented at Vertical Endeavour, a community-driven website. Visit http://www.vertical-endeavour.com


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Re: Drakensberg Cableway

Post by iNdlovu »

This has to be the most ridiculous suggestion I have ever heard. Unfortunately it seems to have gone passed the state of merely being a suggestion. These people in favour just don't seem to have thought it through with a clear mind.
For example:
Graham Muller says ....75% of rainfall is between noon & midnight, the best time to use the cableway is in the morning. Most rain fell in the afternoon and would not interfere in cableway visitor numbers in a significant manner. Uuhm, If you only use the thing in the mornings because it usually rains in the afternoon, doesn't this mean that in the afternoons, nobody is going anywhere, how can this not impact on usage numbers? :-? 0-
The anticipated site is miles from anywhere, who would do a round drive of 6 hours to ride a cableway for a joy ride of 40 minutes :-? 0-

Ms Saunders says "and it will say something about the province" yes it certainly will. It will say that the province is run by imbeciles.

She also said that the massive number of people traveling between Jhb & Durban was a market to tap into. Excuse me Ms Saunders, but people traveling between those two centers do so to get to the destination (generally speaking), those that are holidaying along means that your "massive numbers" are now about 5% of the total.

Mr Charles Preece says local hotels and B&B's are struggling due to poor road infrastructure in the northern part. Aaaahhm, how will the massive number of customers complete their 6 hour round trip. Excuse me Mr Preece, but people will still have to use poor infrastructure to get there. The cableway doesn't solve the problem of road infrastructure.

Tom Howard says "we are very hopeful that people will come back to the area and see for themselves the unspoilt beauty of this region" Oh yes, a cableway of this magnitude in that pristine setting wouldn't be an eyesore. This coupled with the massive (?) increase in people, will certainly keep it unspoiled.

The comment on the windy conditions up there are very true and it sure as hell doesn't mean that because the cableway could physically take the force of the wind that people would have a ball, bobbing around 1000 metres above the earth in a cablecar with the wind howling outside. The Berg is notorious for its weather swings, you can have 4 seasons twice a day. I drive for 300 k's to go ride the cableway, when I get there (it must be in the morning) the weather is great, during the 20 minute ride the weather socks in and by the time I get to the top, I'm major airsick from the buffeting of the wind. Wow, what a view, mist and cloud. Then the heavens open wide (it's afternoon by now) hail like golf balls, the wind reaches typhoon levels and I must climb aboard to head down, otherwise I am stranded at 10,000 feet ASL overnight. OK, so say I risk it, the wind howling, the gondola in danger of crashing to the ground and a bolt of lightening (notorious in the Berg) trips the circuit breaker, now I'm stranded high above the earth in a little glass enclosed bubble in a major Berg storm. When I get down eventually I have a 3 hour return drive ahead of me........Pulleeeez. Would I recommend this to anyone 0*\

"The process of formally declaring the upper reaches of the Mnweni a conservation are has already begun" Please get it through your heads that a conservation area under the current .gov and authorities means that it is ripe for the picking by commercializing the whole place, building steel towers to support 14 kilometers of cableway, putting up hotels and crowding the area with millions (?) of people. (not likely in this case).

Let's face it, this thing is being pushed only by people who could stand to fill their pockets through the tender process, construction phase and early operational phase and Mr Joe in the street will pick up the tab. The local community doesn't want it, the Burg hikers and naturalists don't want it, conservationists don't want it. It will be a massive white elephant and an eyesore, costing the province millions and the only people with smiles on their faces are the ones who filled their pockets out of the deal upfront.


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Re: Drakensberg Cableway

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Well said iNdy! \O


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Re: Drakensberg Cableway

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I couldn't resist.....

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=O: =O:


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