6.4.1 Location accessibility
Ndengane Village is situated along the coastal area of the Mpondoland region (former Transkei) of the Eastern Cape Province. It belongs to Ward 23 and is managed by the Ingquza Hill Local District Municipality, which falls within the jurisdiction of the OR Tambo District Municipality. The closest main town to Ndengane is Lusikisiki, and accessing Ndengane requires driving for approximately 35 kilometres on a gravel road. Although the government makes regular attempts to grade the road, the ride to Ndengane can be bumpy, suggesting a four-wheel drive is appropriate. Taxis do operate on the route between Ndengane and Lusikisiki, but are normally quite congested. Tourists may book taxis, or travel to the village with regular passengers.
6.4.2 Natural, cultural and general tourism assets
The village is endowed with natural attractions, such as proximity to the ocean, making it conducive to tourism. It also boasts a vulture colony situated adjacent to the Mkambati Nature Reserve (MNR). The MNR is easily accessed from Ndengane Village by walking to the bottom of the Msikaba River and catching the ferry across the river to enter the MNR.
Figure 6.6 (a) Ocean view from Ndengane village Figure 6.6 (b) Tourism office in Ndengane Village
100 Figure 6.6 (c) Typical landscape in Ndengane Figure 6.6 (d) Homestay at construction stage
Figure 6.6 (e) Indigenous forest Figure 6.6 (f) Vulture colony resting place
Figure 6.6 (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) shows the visuals of the natural and cultural attractions in Ndengane
6.3.1 Ndengane CBT project history/background
The EU-supported project timeframe to complete the projects along the Wild Coast had come to an end. Subsequently, Ndengane was one of the villages advertised to bidders by the EU and the DEAT (Prospectus Wild Coast Camps Mpondoland, 2005). Finally a private bidder took over the project at Ndengane and built tented camps. The idea of making improvements to existing community members’ homes to offer village-based accommodation was abandoned owing to the EU-supported project timeframe elapsing. In summary, the CBT project in Ndengane did not take off as planned, instead the private bidder that was awarded the contract
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excluded the community from the project and paid a monthly concession fee (token) in the community trust account (Concession Contract, 2005).
6.3.2 Ndengane CBT case study
The village is already part of the Wild Coast Hiking and Horse Trail network (AmaMpondo Trail). As an extension to this network, the community have plans to offer accommodation and various other attractions to tourists, similar to the village-based accommodation offered by the Noqhekwane CBT project. Ndengane is also endowed with natural and cultural attractions, evident in Figure 6.6 a,b,c,d,e,f, which are pre-conditions for CBT development as pointed out in the literature summarised in Table 3.4, Chapter Three). The idea to open a co-operative (Co- op) to benefit from the tourist market was conceptualised at a group meeting (personal communication, Chairperson of the Ndengane Tourism Cooperative, October 2013). The community decided that they had sufficient tourist attractions that could be exploited (see Table 6.2 for list of attractions) (personal communication, Chairperson of the Ndengane Tourism Cooperative, October 2013). According to the Chairperson, ‘if you do not know what’s out there you will think what we have is all that exists’ (personal communication, Chairperson of the Ndengane Tourism Cooperative, October 2013). The Secretary of the Co-op explained some of the challenges, opportunities and current needs of the CBT project, summarised in Table 6.3 (personal communication, Secretary of the Tourism Cooperative, October 2013).
Table 6.2: Possible tourist attractions in Ndengane Tourist meals (food/catering service)
Guided fishing trips
Local culture classes (cooking/food, arts and crafts, dancing) Cultural dance performance
Village tour Shebeen visit
Bird watching (vulture colony) Mkambati Nature Reserve tour Village to village trails Visit to indigenous forest Shipwreck tour
River trail
102 6.3.3 Ndengane CBT project scope and structure
A number of lodges and cottages (holiday second homes) are present along the coastline adjacent to Ndengane Village. These are owned by white families who employ few local people. Some of the existing cottages were built under the Transkei government and still remain legal, while many illegal cottages built after 1994 were broken down. The village lacks the existence and promotion of nature-based tourism within a community-based setting. Hence, an opportunity for combining the natural and cultural features as a tourism product exists and can be exploited for tourism development. Few members of the community identified the potential for CBT development and registered their cooperative (personal communication, Chairperson of the Ndengane Tourism Cooperative, October 2013).
Figure 6.7: Ndengane Village CBT structure and tourism products
Source: Researcher Constructed
Figure 6.7 shows the CBT structure of Ndengane Village and its tourism products. The current products on offer is accommodation which acts as a hub for other activities, such as catering, cultural lessons, arts and crafts and tours.The structure of the management team is as follows: Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Treasurer (group interview with Co-op members, October 2013). All five members are part of the co-op.
103 Table 6.3: Challenges/opportunities & current most important needs for CBT
Challenges Opportunities Current most important needs
Infrastructure support Product diversification Exposure Market access Linkage with outside partners Infrastructure Need for electricity and piped water Complementary partnership Marketing
Financial support Entrepreneurial mindset Training and skills development Management support
Source: Researcher constructed
Table 6.3 shows that opportunities can be developed, however for CBT development to continue successfully the project members require, infrastructure, marketing, training and skills development and exposure to potential market. Although the project has a management team as shown in Table 6.7, their current most important needs has to be addressed and is a limitation to their project.