Free State tourism growth hampered by poor municipal services, says MEC Toto Makume:
The Free State’s ambition to boost its tourism sector — on which many households depend — is being undermined by local municipalities’ inability to deliver services, recently appointed MEC for finance, economic development and tourism, Toto Makume, said.
“Whether we like it or not, you can’t have a tourist who is visiting an area and the following day he or she can’t take a bath because either the water is cold or there’s no water at all,” he said.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a question-and-answer session with journalists in Parys last Friday.
In addition to failing to provide reliable electricity and water, municipalities were not cleaning their towns, making it difficult for his department to encourage tourists to visit the province, Makume said.
“[Municipalities must] focus on what are the basic needs that their communities and the tourists will enjoy them, but also the people who are going to invest in those areas,” he said.
The Free State is one of South Africa‘s hidden gems, boasting five travel routes — the cheetah, lion, flamingo, springbok and eagle routes — the last of which the Mail & Guardian visited recently.
The eagle route is known for its scenic beauty, rich history and heritage, as well as leisure and adventure tourism.
It includes Clarens, a popular weekend destination known for its fine arts; Ficksburg, the cherry capital and towns like Phuthaditjhaba, which was the capital of the former homeland, Qwaqwa.
The route also offers spectacular mountain views, horse riding, quad biking, zip lining and ideal areas for outdoor lovers, but the poor quality of services means that it cannot be fully exploited.
The owners of lodges and guest houses in the area, which falls under the Maluti-a-Phofung municipality — one of the worst performing in the province — have raised concerns about the difficulties in trying to sustain their businesses.
One lodge owner, who asked not to be named, said in some instances businesses have to buy water to fill their storage tanks because the municipality fails to provide them with a constant supply.
“You pay about R800 for 5 000 litres, and you also need to get a connection to get the water. Sometimes you wish for the rain because that way you can fill the tanks.”
They also had to spend R10 000 over a weekend for diesel to run a generator when there is no electricity.
“This is a loss because, if you get a place to sleep for R700, you are not guaranteed that the entire place will be filled with guests. The generator is expensive to run.”
Makume, however, said there was an agreement with Eskom to fix the electricity crisis in Maluti-a-Phofung.
“The department of Cogta [cooperative governance and traditional affairs], human settlements and our department, through the treasury, need to work out a plan in which Eskom will help us to fix the problem in relation to electricity,” Makume said.
“In relation to water, the new entity board that is dealing with water is already on site and the department of water and sanitation affairs are also on site to fix problems.”
This journalist’s trip to the Free State was sponsored by the Free State Gambling, Liquor and Tourism Authority.
South Africa braces for wet summer and heatwaves amid La Niña uncertainty:
South Africa could be in for a wet summer with potential flooding in parts of the country and higher-than-normal temperatures being expected, according to South African Weather Service meteorologist, Lehlohonolo Thobela.
“We are expecting above-normal rain for the central and eastern areas of the country. So, we might experience more heavy rains as well as thunderstorms that may result in heavy rain and flooding for the eastern provinces,” Thobela told the Mail & Guardian.
Despite the rain, high temperatures are expected across the country during the summer months, he said.
Snow fell in various parts of the country last weekend, closing important routes, leaving motorists stranded and killing livestock and crops.
Heavy snowfall was recorded in Gauteng, the Free State, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape. It caused an extensive traffic backlog between Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, leaving thousands of motorists trapped for up to 13 hours on one of the country’s busiest routes.
“The snow was due to a cold environment as well as enough moisture in the area. These conditions resulted from a weather system called a cut-off low as well as a cold front that was east of South Africa.
“These weather systems caused a drop in freezing levels, a drop in temperature, rain, as well as a lot of moisture that resulted in snow,” Thobela said.
A cut-off low is a pressure system that develops in the upper air as it cuts off from its normal westerly flow. It is associated with weather systems that develop at the surface or lower levels of the atmosphere, making it more potent, according to Kanyisa Makubalo, a forecaster at the South African Weather Service.
Researchers are studying if these events are happening more frequently and with more intensity, Neville Sweijd, the director of the Alliance for Collaboration on Climate and Earth Systems Science, previously told the M&G.
“Daytime temperatures are expected to recover quickly from Sunday into Monday across eastern South Africa,” the weather service said in a statement.
El Niño and La Niña are the warm and cool phases of a climate pattern that brings warm or cooler, wetter weather, respectively. It is commonly referred to as ENSO.
“ENSO is currently still in a neutral state and is predicted to weaken further. However current predictions are mixed in whether it will weaken towards a La Niña state during our next summer season.
“It is advised to monitor the ENSO system, as significant changes in the system may occur after the winter period due to increased prediction skill,” the weather service said.
“With a potential La Niña event on the horizon affecting the summer season, and early indications of above-normal rainfall over most of the summer rainfall areas during [October, November and December], the initial outlook is positive for good rainfall in summer.
“There is an exception however for the Limpopo region which still indicates below-normal rainfall that can be expected going into the early summer period. Mostly drier conditions are still expected over the country during spring,” it said.
The weather patterns are expected to affect agriculture.
“Below-normal rainfall is forecasted for most parts of the country in the early spring and mid- to late-spring seasons, with the exception of some areas in the Free State province.
“Conversely, above-normal rainfall is expected in most parts of the summer rainfall regions, except for the Limpopo province, during the early summer season. This above-normal rainfall forecast for these summer rainfall regions will likely have a positive impact on crop and livestock production,” the service said.
But Limpopo is expected to have below-normal rainfall in early summer.
The weather service recommended that farmers “implement soil and water conservation measures, proper water harvesting and storage techniques, establish effective drainage systems, and adopt other appropriate farming practices”.
Israel hits Beirut again in second day of strikes:
A Lebanese security source said an Israeli strike hit Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold on Tuesday, with the Israeli army also saying it had carried out a strike, a day after hitting the same area.
“An Israeli strike targeted two floors in a residential building in the Ghobeiri area,” the security source said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss sensitive matters.
The Israeli military said it had struck the Lebanese capital but did not immediately give further details.
“The IDF (military) conducted a targeted strike in Beirut. Details to follow,” it said.
An AFP photographer at the site of the strike said the strike had destroyed two floors of a building located in a densely-packed residential area, also damaging nearby cars.
On Monday, Israel said it had launched a “targeted strike” on Beirut.
Hezbollah said Ali Karake, its third-in-command, was alive and had moved to safety after a source close to the group told AFP the strike had targeted him.
Hezbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire since the Gaza war erupted last October.
But on Monday, Israel launched devastating strikes across Lebanon’s south and east, killing more than 550 people according to the Lebanese health ministry — the deadliest single-day toll since Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006.
The attacks came after coordinated communications devices explosions that killed 39 people and wounded thousands on Tuesday and Wednesday last week.
Those were followed by a deadly strike on Friday on south Beirut, with leading Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil among the dead.
© Agence France-Presse
Submit and get free exposure here: Showcase Your Business | Advertise Your Special Offers.
