Warning that collapsing infrastructure will kill Wild Coast tourism

The Eastern Cape’s collapsing state infrastructure is a threat to Wild Coast tourism, public interest group Green Ripple has warned. 

The group’s spokesperson,  conservator Dr Div de Villiers, said the state’s failure to provide basic infrastructure, services and law and order in the Wild Coast could result in further hotel closures with escalating negative effects on the environment and economy.

This follows the closure of the province’s Mazeppa Bay Hotel in Centane.

The hotel ceased operations on January 27, citing poor road infrastructure and lack of road maintenance by the government in its poor financial performance.

The hotel’s manager, Vanessa Fisher, said this was additional to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

De Villiers said there was also concern from other Wild Coast hotel and resort owners about visitor numbers to the region.

“The blame is being put on the condition of the road and on the effects of Covid-19.

“But I think that it is a more complex issue.

“Covid-19 cannot be blamed entirely because other tourist destinations have bounced back and are thriving.

“Not only the likes of Cape Town, but hotels along the East of the Kei, like Crawfords and Morgan Bay hotel, are bustling with guests.

“However, they are not situated in the former Transkei. And here lies the problem. 

“What’s happened on the Transkei Wild Coast is that basic infrastructure has collapsed.

“As one crosses the Great Kei River, you notice the environmental degradation.

“Raw sewage is running into the rivers, waste is dumped everywhere, water supply is unreliable, flood damage is unrepaired, roads are washed away, security is a problem, and illegal development is rampant,” he said.

De Villiers said the closure of the Mazeppa Bay hotel was a sign of the times where one of the oldest, most iconic tourism establishments on the Wild Coast had to shut its doors and retrench dozens of workers who had become a part of the Wild Coast family.

The hotel epitomised what set Wild Coast hotels apart from any other hotels in SA — over generations, they had become an integral part of the environment and social structure of the unique nodes that they occupied, he said.

“There are nearly 300 unlawful sand mines that scar the once-pristine coastline and people have grabbed land and built illegal cottages in prime settings.

“Many of these are being hired out for a pittance.

“You can stay in an illegal cottage for R300 or R400 a night if you check Facebook adverts because the unlawful land occupiers obtained the land for free and are paying nothing to the state in the form of rentals, rates or taxes.

“They do not have the costs that the legitimate establishments have.

“They don’t provide meaningful jobs and don’t support local businesses.

“The scenario has been predicted for ages.

“Enoch Godongwana took a hardline approach against the lawlessness as early as 2000 when he was MEC for economic development and environmental affairs.

“He established a task team to ensure the demolition of illegal developments and advocated for formal nodal development to attract investment to the Wild Coast,” De Villiers said.

The conservator said efforts of the provincial and national government bore fruit for at least 15 years, but when lawlessness was allowed to escalate unchecked, the illegal economy began thriving across the Kei.

He called on the state to support legal tourist establishments which competed with illegal developments on the uneven playing field.

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