Development and Transformation

  • June 29th, 2019

Our region has some of the poorest of the poor living right next to the fences of some of the most pristine wildlife and nature reserves in the world.  These reserves are visited by millions of tourists but the opportunities were very exclusive until now.  KLCBT would like to break down “the fence” in the sense that opportunities and jobs for all our people should be created through new innovative, catalytic projects throughout the entire region.

We are represented in:

  • Ehlanzeni Economic Development Forum
  • Ehlanzeni Integrated Development Plan Representative Forum
  • Mpumalanga Tourism Think Tank

Current Projects:

  • We are presenting the 7 development nodes at all forums and all IDP forums at all municipalities and we are in the phase of commencing pre-feasibility studies, these nodes are:
    • The Bushbuckridge Camino – a walking / cycling route between Eastgate Airport and KMIA along the R40, bordering Bushbuckridge.  The route will pass several villages and communities who will benefit by providing goods and services to these pilgrims
    • The Super Panorama Route – The existing Panorama Route containing most of the iconic attractions of the Lowveld, has to be modernised.  Many more world-class attractions should be added to the route.  An example is the recent addition of the Graskop Gorge Glass Lift
    • Mbombela as a Vibrant Capital City – Right now there is no night life and really nothing exciting to offer to the growing number of students in the city as well as the younger visitors to the area.  The city needs rejuvenation to cater for the shift in the demographics of residents and visitors
    • The Makonjwa Mountains World Heritage Site – This site should be developed to attract visitors.  The Geotrail is very well presented with descriptions of the geological finds next to the road, but there should be numerous activities catering for all ages, along this route at the very least.
    • The N4 from Mbombela to Komatipoort (going into Mozambique).  The road was designed to travel as quickly as possible from Maputo to Mbombela and that is exactly what it does.  We would like to see several exciting activities and attractions next to the road which can be enjoyed by the whole family – several great ideas are in a pre-development phase.
    • The SEZs – One is in the development phase at Komatipoort, we would like to see another one near the KMIA airport
    • Development of the large dam(s) – A dam provides an economy of its own, besides the water storage it provides.  We need another large dam in the Barberton / Malalane area or near Mbombela.  We also would like to see the development of the Inyaka dam in Bushbuckridge.
  • It is the role of the KLCBT to bring landowners, people with ideas and financiers together, in order to develop this region in one of the greatest destinations in the world.  We should stop competing with other provinces and take our place on the world stage.

Previous Successes:

  • Since we started the mere mention of these, government has allocated budget towards pre-feasibility of some of this and has also aligned there local economic development plans to this.  Ehlanzeni District has adopted this plan “as is” as their local economic development strategy
  • Many private sector initiatives has sprung up that will be developed in the next few years