Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
South Africa’s oldest leper colony is to be turned into a top tourism attraction in Gauteng, with lavish five star hotels, nature parks, and an up-market shopping mall.
Last year the Gauteng Department of Health said the 125-year-old hospital, West Fort, was outdated and should be sold off to the private sector.
The government put West Fort out to tender, and recently awarded it for R10- million to the West Fort Community Development Consortium, which will now develop the dream village envisaged by the Gauteng government. The development is being touted as a major attraction for heritage and culture tourism in Pretoria.
Among the shareholders of the consortium, which was masterminded by two black architects, are residents of the leper colony. As part of the deal, about 200 people who have lived in a housing settlement on the property, Davidsonville village, will be allocated houses in the new complex. The residents of Davidsonville, who have been living on the estate for decades, stayed on after West Fort was shut down as a leper colony in 1997. Davidsonville was named after the first superintendent of West Fort hospital.
West Fort boasts abundant bird life, rare species of grass and majestic eucalypti. It was built in the 19th century by colonial authorities to exclusively cater for leprosy patients and its pharmacy building dates back to 1897. The sprawling estate includes the ruins of the original fort on an adjoining hilltop, which provides a bird’s-eye view of Pretoria and its surroundings.
Lindi Mvusi, project leader of the consortium, says the urban village is a “mixed use, 24-hour, vibrant, urban and urbane centre, achoring 7E500 permanent and 4E500 entrepreneurial jobs in a mix of established businesses with small business enabled by lower overheads, community policing and village security services.
“The vision is a country village of 10E000 residents, a fort, a cluster of boutique hotels and direct access along highways to Lanseria, Grand Central and Johannesburg airports,” says Mvusi.
Among other things the village will house 10 small farms and medium and small businesses in the sectors of information technology, tourism and heritage, specialised commercial production, and retail and leisure services.
“We have a commitment from an education company that wants to rent a secondary school and a primary school in the urban village. A hotel company has also committed to rent a five star hotel and a hotel school,” says Mvusi.
The consortium has plans to build 2 000 housing units in the area and to renovate and improve existing buildings at West Fort. The 1897 pharmacy building will be turned into a museum “depicting the social history of the site, the hospital structures and the architecture of the village and historic cemeteries”.
The consortium says the hospital is ideally situated for the further tourism development.
Other tourist attractions include woodland walks and cycling paths with night lighting to link all residential and working precincts throughout the 389ha. The hilltop at West Fort will be transformed into a nature park along with nature trails and information booths.