The key purpose of this section is to provide a summary of the current status of tourism in the Eastern Cape. More specifically, the focus is on Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns Local Municipalities. The two local municipalities fall within the jurisdiction of the OR Tambo District Municipality. Both these local municipalities form part of the case study area used in this research. The strategy documents examined are comprehensive and cover a wide range of issues. For this reason, the researcher restricted his focus to issues that affect community-based tourism. The following main strategy documents are used in this section: Integrated Development Plan (IDP) document of Ingquza Hill Municipality 2011–2012, Integrated Development Plan (IDP) document of Port St Johns Municipality 2012–2017 and the Province of the Eastern Cape Tourism Master Plan (ECTMP) 2009–2014.
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Overview of issues that affect tourism on the Wild Coast (Eastern Cape Province)
Firstly it is important to understand the name ‘Wild Coast’ (WC). This is the brand name for the coastal area of Pondoland and was created by outsiders (Dellier & Guyot, 2009:29). It is also known by its former homeland name, the Transkei Wild Coast (Ntonzima & Binza, 2011:656). It is located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Simukonda and Kraai (2009:35) describe the Wild Coast as covering hundreds of acres of coastal land, starting from the Kei River in the Amathole District municipality and Mtamvuna River on the border of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal respectively. Although the Eastern Cape Province is viewed as having spectacular natural and cultural resources with a high tourism potential, this has not been optimally exploited to generate economic growth and development (Province of the Eastern Cape. DEDEA, 2009). It is still one of the poorest regions in South Africa (Simukonda & Kraai, 2009:35). It has been observed that the province has a history of unsuccessful project implementation (Simukonda & Kraai, 2009:36). A review of the Eastern Cape Tourism Master Plan: 2009–2014 in respect of tourism reveals the following:
Visitor numbers to the province declined.
Many legislative frameworks exist, but many gaps in the actual implementation. The importance of the natural and cultural heritage assets for tourism in the Eastern
Cape has been overlooked in recent years.
Minimal support is provided to municipalities, given the fact that tourism occurs at local level.
Currently there is no framework that guides tourism development in the province. The province is unacceptably undermarketed, with poorly developed, low quality
products.
Road infrastructure in the province is severely underdeveloped, particularly in rural areas.
There is no provincial signage policy; this means that tourism signage is uncoordinated and not standardised.
Additionally, the WC has been identified as an area for strategic economic development in accordance with government’s Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) strategy (Simukonda & Kraai, 2009:50). However, the SDI did not start by establishing the community strengths and aspirations and subsequently failed (Simukonda & Kraai, 2009:50). The situational analysis of the IDPs of Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns municipalities reveals the following, as depicted in Table 4.5.
72 Table 4.5: Situational analysis of IDPs Ingquza Hill (2011) and Port St Johns (2012)
Ingquza Hill Port St Johns
Potential for developing a CBT industry due to its unique attractions identified
The tourism potential in the area is immense and is not fully exploited
Unemployment rate is the second highest within the OR Tambo District municipality
In the Port St Johns town, tourism is hampered by unavailability of water and sanitation
Need to invest in infrastructure and community development and support
How to exploit the potential as well as conserve and preserve the tourism assets is a challenge
Identified tourism as a sector where economic development can take place
A Tourist Information Centre run by the municipality exists The low levels of education imply a need for adult
education and skills development programmes
Further development and packaging of tourism products in the municipality needed
70% of households at Ingquza Hill are dependent on natural sources of water such as boreholes, springs, rivers and dams
54% of the population are not working
48.9% of Port St Johns Municipal residents have no access to a toilet
The majority of households are using pit latrines without ventilation or have no access to any form of toilets
The area is characterised by low levels of education The majority of households resort to environmentally
insensitive and illegal mechanisms for disposing of waste due to limited services for disposal of waste
The greatest portion of households, 65%, accesses water from rivers/streams
A survey in (2007) showed almost 70% of the Ingquza Hill citizens still use wood for cooking; 12% rely on paraffin and only 15% use electricity
Access to electricity for lighting in the municipality is 48% Removal of refuse from households is one of the biggest challenges facing the municipality
Roads are poorly maintained, especially roads in rural areas. Most of the access roads are not tarred and have no road markings or signs
Lack of infrastructure includes roads
Source: Adapted from the Ingquza Hill Local Municipality IDP (2011) and Port St Johns Local Municipality IDP (2012) documents
The IDP is a compulsory planning activity that requires compulsory participation of communities, local businesses and civil society organisations in its development, budgeting and implementation (Ntonzima & Binza, 2011:655). Similarly, local governments are seen as crucial both as policy makers and as institutions of local democracy (Rogerson, 2006:40). More importantly, Rogerson points out that improving the asset base of the poor through LED is dependent on, for example, expansion of municipal services delivery. These services would include water supply, sanitation, refuse removal, drainage, flood protection, local roads, public transport, street lighting, and traffic management (Rogerson, 2006:41). Moreover, these essential services are prerequisites for tourism development and the current situation poses many challenges to CBT development. Furthermore, it is suggested that local government in the Wild Coast area prioritises tourism development as a catalyst to provide jobs and improve the quality of life of its local people (Ntonzima & Binza, 2011:666). For successful tourism- led local economic development (LED) on the Wild Coast, Ntonzima and Binza (2011:665) propose adhering to the aims listed in Table 4.6. The strategic priority areas for tourism in the ECTMP: 2009–2014, are also listed in Table 4.6 below:
73 Table 4.6: Aims for successful tourism LED on the WC and strategic priorities for tourism in the ECTMP
Aims for successful tourism LED on the WC Strategic priorities for tourism as per ECTMP
An improved infrastructure, particularly roads Development of tourism-relevant infrastructure Functioning and easily assessable health systems Transformation of the tourism sector
Improved management of the accommodation segment Tourism research and information A work force which is familiar with LED and is fairly well
educated
Human resource development Improved marketing and communications modes (such as
Internet access, telecommunications, destination and product marketing, and information centres)
Tourism marketing
Tourism product development
Source: Ntonzima & Binza (2011:665) Source: adapted from ECTMP (2009-2014)
The developmental state of tourism on the WC, according to some of the strategy documents perused, shows that tourism is still a missed opportunity. The WC’s heritage and cultural and natural tourism assets are not exploited as unique selling points. Thus the area lacks sorely needed tourist numbers. There is inadequate institutional framework linking the different spheres of government in terms of tourism. General infrastructure and essential services necessary for CBT development are also lacking. Product development and marketing are targeted at international tourists only, and this market has shown a decline. Intention and objectives appear in strategic documents; however implementation and follow up are identified as problems.
(Ingquza Hill Local Municipality, 2011; Port St Johns Local Municipality, 2012; ECTMP, 2009–2014).