Drakensberg Cableway

[Sharifa]

Flutterby

It is a idea

[Toko]

Here the link to the Feasability Study: Download PDF: Feasibility Study for the Development of a Drakensberg Cable Car

[Lisbeth]

Sorry, but I do not feel like reading it all I just want to know who would be financing this follies and hoping to get a gain out of it ???? It is not even good for washing dirty money, because the payback in my opinion is to low

Maybe I am talking nonsense not knowing the local situation well enough, but that is what I think about this foolish initiative!!!

[iNdlovu]

Not nonsence at all Lis, you are spot on

[Richprins]

Absolutely correct, Lis! Normally the deal is done, then they just wait for opposition to die down...

[H. erectus]

our e-Toll system would be a prime example!!!

[Sprocky]

2013-11-25 09:22

The Witness

Bergville - Thousands of members of the Busingatha community, near Bergville, took part in a public meeting on Saturday to discuss plans to install a cable car in the Drakensberg.

The proposed cableway impacts mainly on the amaZizi community, who live in the Busingatha valley.

According to a Witness report, the Economic Development and Tourism Department spokesperson Siyabonga Maphumulo described the numbers who turned up as “overwhelming”, adding that two huge tents erected at the venue were filled to capacity.

The public meeting was part of a four-month consultation process launched by the department following the release of a a feasibility study into the construction of the proposed Drakensberg cable car at the end of July. These processes are expected to be completed in December. Thereafter, a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) will be done.

The initiative was identified as a catalytic project that could dramatically change the tourism landscape of the province in its 20-year tourism master plan but members of the amaZizi community previously expressed reservations about the project and the mass meetings are an attempt to address this.

The key concern being impact of the project on the Drakensberg's World Heritage Site status - but the cableway is pegged for outside the World Heritage Site uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park.

Mount Amery was identified as the summit terminus for the proposed cableway, with the base station located near Woodstock Dam, a distance of approximately seven kilometres.

The cableway can be constructed either in a single span or, the cheaper option, with supporting pylons.

Parallel to this process a business plan will be drawn up. These processes should be completed by December. Thereafter, a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) will be done.
At the previous meeting held in July tourism industry planning consultant Graham Muller said community support was key to the success of the project.

The cableway impacts mainly on the amaZizi community, who live in the Busingatha valley section of the Mnweni area of the Drakensberg, which is also home to the amaNgwane community.

The upgrade of the R74 is seen as a key feature of the project, with money being made available in the Free State for the upgrade.
The road from the Free State is currently impassable and this has resulted in a negative economic impact on businesses in the area. For example Little Switzerland hotel has closed.

- The feasibility study will be made available at: www.kznded.gov.za

[Sprocky]

2014-01-17

Pietermaritzburg – A review of the proposed R500m cableway for the Drakensberg has pointed out a few flaws that could lead to the project causing more damage than good.

TimesLive reports that the review was commissioned by the African Conservation Trust (ACT) as well as the Wilderness group and that it highlighted exorbitant ticket prices and projected visitor numbers as problematic.

According to the review ticket prices have been set at approximately R300 per person, meaning that an outing for a family of four could end up costing R1 200, which is more expensive than most cableways around the world.

A return trip on the Table Mountain Cableway, for example, would cost a family of four (two adults and two children under the age of 17) just over half the projected Drakensberg amount, at R640.

Apart from the ticket prices, ACT also pointed out that the tourism statistics are highly questionable. The KZN Department of Economic Development and Tourism set projected visitor numbers at 300 000 a year, with an average of three international tourists per car visiting. They expect numbers to increase by 10% per year.

ACT pointed out that these numbers were unrealistic, as the current total numbers to the northern berg are about half this.

“Drive-by visitors are possible, but visitors to KwaZulu-Natal mostly all migrate at the same time, and to assume a section of this is optimistic,” the review states.

Mount Amery was identified as the summit terminus for the proposed cableway, with the base station located near Woodstock Dam, a distance of approximately seven kilometers in the official feasibility report released by the DEDT last year.

I O L reports that the AmaZizi community, who live closest to the proposed site in the northern Berg, are opposed to the idea and say they have not been properly consulted. The review also highlights the fact that consultants confirmed that the cableway itself would provide only about 30 local jobs.

ACT concluded their review by stating that a full Environmental Impact Assessment still needs to be conducted, pointing out that there are at least 35 environmental aspects that require exhaustive investigation. These include physical characteristics of the land and landscape, emergency service access, risks and hazards as well as nature and level of environmental pollution including air, water, visual, noise and light pollution.

Michael Mabuyakhulu, KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development and Tourism MEC, is however, confident about the project's benefits, calling it a ‘game changer’ for the province’s tourism sector.

[Penga Ndlovu]

Someone obviously opened his big back pocket wide enough to be confident enough to make a stetement like the last one.

[Sprocky]

2014-01-31 09:14

Durban – The controversial 7km cable car route planned for the Drakensberg, may now be extended by another 5km to the Afrikski resort in Lesotho.

The Mercury reports that Mike Mabuyakhulu, the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development and Tourism told a briefing in Durban that his department will be embarking on the project along with the Lesotho government.

The extra 5km will link the cable route directly to the Afriski resort near Buthe-Buthe in Lesotho. Apart from this, Mabuyakhulu added that the cable car could assist in breathing new life into the Nondela Drakensberg Mountain Estate, a failed golf complex outside Bergville, as the base station will be located close by.

The 1 500ha Nondela golf course and housing development collapsed shortly before its launch, during the 2008 financial crisis.

While the cableway has been dubbed a tourism ‘game changer’ by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism in KZN, various environmental groups have pointed out a number of flaws in the plan.

A review commissioned by the African Conservation Trust (ACT) as well as the Wilderness group highlighted that exorbitant ticket prices and projected visitor numbers were problematic.

According to the review ticket prices have been set at approximately R300 per person, meaning that an outing for a family of four could end up costing R1 200, which is more expensive than most cableways around the world.

A return trip on the Table Mountain Cableway, for example, would cost a family of four (two adults and two children under the age of 17) just over half the projected Drakensberg amount, at R640.

The KZN Department of Economic Development and Tourism has also set projected visitor numbers at 300 000 a year, with an average of three international tourists per car visiting. They expect numbers to increase by 10% per year.

ACT pointed out that these numbers were unrealistic, as the current total numbers to the northern berg are about half this.

The Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains Facebook group posted a link to an Avaaz petition against the proposed cableway earlier this month.

Titled 'Stop the proposed Busingatha cableway in the Drakensberg!' the petition states that the local AmaZizi people do not wish for the development to go ahead, as it would disrupt their cultural and societal fabric.

"The cableway would jeopardise the integrity of the World Heritage status of the surrounding areas of the Drakensberg. It would also destroy the opportunity to create an unbroken protected area covering close to 300km of the Drakensberg range," the petition reads.

The KwaZulu-Natal DEDT, however, seem to be sticking to their guns, citing tourism growth as their main driving force. The department announced that they will assist the Lesotho government in launching a feasibility study, while a technical team will be set up to discuss further partnership opportunities.

The Witness reports that the department is also working with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the national Department of Tourism and the national Department of Environmental Affairs on the project, on its implications to the World Heritage Site and the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process.

“We also want to ensure that by the end of February 2014 we will have a reworked business plan on the project,” said Mabuyakhulu.

The site of the proposed project is not part of the World Heritage Site. The EIA process is planned to start in March this year.