Cash-strapped SA National Parks (SANParks) has approved a luxury hotel development on Table Mountain as part of a plan to increase revenue.
The development above Llandudno includes two boutique hotels, a restaurant, a bistro and a museum and forms part of a SANParks commercialisation strategy. It is on the site of an old artillery battery with nine World War 2 guns to be incorporated into the upgraded site.
SANParks confirmed it is finalising a public-private partnership agreement with hotel group Newmark, whose other properties include game reserves in Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
“The concessionaire is required to follow due process in obtaining all environmental, heritage, land use and other approvals as required from the relevant authorities,” SANParks said.
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Table Mountain is the crown jewel among SA's 19 national parks, with more than 2-million visitors in the 2019/20 financial year before Covid-19 struck. Kruger National Park, in distant second place, and other parks are also being commercially developed.
News of the Apostle Battery project took commentators by surprise this week. Some welcomed it as a move towards sustainable conservation while others cautioned against large-scale development in the park, which is a World Heritage Site.
“Yes, SANParks is in financial trouble but I’m just not convinced that luxury boutique hotels are the answer,” said Nicky Schmidt from Parkscape, a civil society environmental watchdog.
“The mountain is a precious place and has the capacity for nation-building. But when you start developing luxury hotels it sends out a different message — that you don’t really care about the poor and middle-class people.
“To me it is really about ethics and morality. There are some good things about commercialisation but we have to be so mindful of the how, where and what.”
The battery site — one of 14 that stud the Cape peninsula's coastline — includes several dilapidated and derelict buildings and a campsite used by groups working with disadvantaged youth.
Newmark executive director Mike Vroom said the development would significantly upgrade the heritage site, and the look and feel of the hotels would be faithful to the military theme.
“In total, the two lodges will feature 21 separate suites, which will be designed with a contemporary take on lightweight canvas military structures,” Vroom said.
“Each luxury suite will boast its own private plunge pool with unrivalled views over Llandudno and the Atlantic Ocean.”
Newmark plans to enhance public access to the site through amenities such as a museum, a 100-seater family restaurant called The Officers Mess, a deli offering picnic hampers, and a 50-seat “Cannon Bar” with views over the Atlantic.
Guided historical walks, overnight mountain hikes and “rustic watchtower sleepovers” are also on the cards, according to the company.
“Our team of experts will be working closely with SANParks and a highly experienced consultant team of historians, ecologists, environmentalists, architects and interior designers to bring to life this first-of-its-kind offering,” said Vroom.
“There is nothing else like it in SA and the location alone, standing as it does on this phenomenal site with unrivalled views, promises a memorable experience in an iconic setting.”
72.6%: The decrease in SANParks visitors in 2020 due to Covid
65%: The drop in total SANParks revenue in 2020/2021
2,100: The number of people employed by SANParks concessionaires. Around 80% come from neighbouring communities
R1.4bn: SANParks’ income from public-private partnerships by 2021
— IN NUMBERS
The gun battery was built in the early 1940s and is credited with helping to deter the Axis powers (Japan, Italy and Nazi Germany) from gaining an African foothold.
Table Mountain Watch's Andre van Schalkwyk said he supported the battery plan as long as it was properly managed and the revenue generated was reinvested in the park.
“The park has been decaying around us, in terms of infrastructure, for some time now,” he said, pointing to “poor management, central control of budgets and the refusal to recognise Table Mountain National Park as an urban park”.
Van Schalkwyk added: “Bringing in private organisations to assist is the only way to go. SANParks is effectively bankrupt and will require a bailout sooner rather than later. It is forced to urgently find ways to generate revenues.”
A press release before SANParks' tourism investment conference at the end of March said: “Key concessionaire contracts such as the Table Mountain cable car, Cape Point and seven lodges in the renowned Kruger National Park will become available over the next three to five years with a pipeline release of over 100 new tourism investment opportunities over the next 10 years.”
SANParks chair Pam Yako said: “Given fiscal constraints, competing demands and increasing demand to address societal challenges which include unemployment and poverty, the government is no longer able to be the sole funder for the effective management of biodiversity and conservation efforts.”
Environment minister Barbara Creecy told the conference SANParks’ commercialisation strategy could play a “crucial part” in uplifting underdeveloped areas adjoining parks.
Greg Louw, a community leader in Hout Bay, said SANParks needed to ensure commercial partners acted in the interests of the adjoining communities.
“Commercialisation can happen but the benefits must be broader than just the private partner,” he said.
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