The KwaZulu-Natal government requires over R1 billion to kickstart the Drakensberg cable car project. The KwaZulu-Natal government needs close to R1 billion to get theDrakensberg cable car projectoff the ground. There is growing scepticism about the future of the ambitious project, with stakeholders questioning if it will ever get off the ground.
Councillors in the Okhahlamba Municipality, one of the key stakeholders in the project, said they have not been informed about any progress in the project for almost five years. The R1 billion figure is based on information produced in 2017 and contained in a report by the Department of Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA), compiled in June this year. However,EDTEA MEC Musa Zondidismissed views that the project has been neglected, stating he had picked it up after it had been dormant for 12 years.
The Drakensberg cable car proposal, described as a game-changer, was proposed as one of the catalytic projects aimed at unlocking the tourism potential of the uKhahlamba–Drakensberg region. The project aims to attract at least 300,000 cable car visitors a year, with the cableway proposed to run up a mountain along the Busingatha Valley. According to the report based on the 2017 feasibility study, the estimated costs are as follows: EFF councillor Thulani Sibeko remarked, “Since the beginning of this term in 2021, we have not been told anything about this project.
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“The mayor has not briefed the members of the council, and it is creating doubt among us as to whether this project will ever get off the ground. “It has been years now; the project was first proposed in 2004 when Mike Mabuyakhulu was still the MEC. It is now almost 14 years later, and nothing has moved. “We know that the project is being driven by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, but we have not received any briefings as to what is going on with it.
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