Nicky Barker
The government has unveiled an ambitious plan to develop the Lake St Lucia area on the northern KwaZulu-Natal coast as a major international tourist attraction. Minister of Environment Affairs and Tourism Pallo Jordan describes the project as “one of the biggest tourism investment initiatives the country has ever seen”.
The announcement is a reaction to recent speculation that the government is reconsidering mining the area.
The government this week revealed details of its spatial development initiative (SDI) in the region, one of several national projects aimed at identifying investment zones for private-sector involvement.
Called the Lubombo SDI, it earmarks for development an area stretching from the mouth of the St Lucia estuary up to Maputo in Mozambique, and incorporating a slice of Swaziland. It not only includes virtually every attraction a tourist is likely to want, but is also developing agricultural, conservation and forestry projects.
“We’re talking about private-sector investment of about R300-million, the creation of approximately 1 500 new jobs and creating an annual income of R600- million for the region,” says SDI project manager Andrew Zaloumis. He is optimistic that the groundwork for the development has been done, and that now tangible results will soon start showing.
“This is a trilateral initiative between three countries, so obviously things will take time,” he says. “But the concept document is complete and the framework will be ready for the next trilateral meeting in January. Once everyone is in agreement with the feasibility of the development, we should be able to finalise our lead projects to present to the private sector by June 1998.”
All SDIs require some kind of anchor project to knit them together. In Lubombo’s case, it is the construction of a major tourism highway, beginning at Hluhluwe and linking the northern portion of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park with Maputoland and eventually Maputo itself. Despite some initial hiccups, this road is already well under construction.
Lake St Lucia is seen as the tourism fulcrum – it has the international profile to become an immediate attraction, according to Jordan.
“The fundamental point of departure for the Lubombo SDI – and the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park that lies at its heart – is the need to deliver a programme for responsible tourism that brings benefits to local people without destroying the natural system on which it is based,” Jordan says.