KwaZulu Natal’s Drakensberg Cable Car project is going ahead despite misgivings from conservationists and the tourism industry.
KZN MEC for Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs Siboniso Duma believes the project will boost tourism in KZN, Lesotho, and the Free State.
TravelNews reported him saying that ‘the area attracts both international and domestic leisure tourists, who mostly come for hiking and adventure. The plan is for the cableway to be located in a part of the Drakensberg with minimal tourism infrastructure and accommodation. This will unleash the tourism potential of this area without impacting existing attractions.
‘The additional volume of tourists the cableway is expected to attract presents massive opportunities for cross-border initiatives to enhance the tourism product offering and, beyond tourism, look at other investment opportunities.’
The organisations involved in the project believe that the cable car will create an ’employment bonanza,’ with 151 people potentially gaining jobs.
The tourism industry and conservation groups have expressed concern over the project’s economic viability, the environmental impact, threatening the Maloti-Drakensberg World Heritage site, and that there are better sites for the project.
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