Still reeling from last year’s unrest and two devastating floods, Durban residents are hardly impressed by a proposed R450m Ferris wheel.
At Africa’s Travel Indaba earlier this month, KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala announced that the Durban Eye was among several projects on the cards to reignite the province’s tourism sector, hard-hit by Covid-19, the July unrest and the recent deadly floods.
While local and provincial governments say the attraction, to be located in the Point Waterfront precinct, will bring in much-needed revenue, some residents, political parties and civic activists believe it will become another white elephant, much like the SkyCar at the Moses Mabhida stadium, which hasn’t functioned since it broke down in 2018.
eThekwini municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela told Sunday Times Daily this week it will merely be leasing land near Vetch’s Beach to Durban Iye Wheel, a private, female-owned business, that will “invest in the design, development, construction and operation, and management of the facility, at no cost to the municipality”.
Boitumelo Mokgatle, the founder and one of three owners of Durban Iye Wheel, said: “Although it has been perceived that the project and attraction is owned by the city, this is not the case.
“The concept and execution of the Durban Eye is fully owned by the three people, who are actively sourcing funding from national and provincial development finance institutions and a Dutch funder, together with a local equity funder in the tourism industry.
“While we are not oblivious to the crippling impact of the pandemic and, most recently, the devastating floods in KZN, we are confident an attraction of this scale will create job opportunities, secure events and create a further world-class attraction to travellers to choose KZN, which has a ripple effect on the broader tourism industry.”
Whilst we are not oblivious to the crippling impact of the pandemic and, most recently, the devastating floods in KZN, we are confident that an attraction of this scale will create job opportunities, secure events and create a further world-class attraction to travellers to choose KZN.
— Boitumelo Mokgatle, founder and one of three owners of Durban Iye Wheel
Mokgatle said the owners of the attraction would take “full responsibility” for maintenance, with support from the manufacturer, Dutch Wheels.
“We are in the final stages of concluding all investor agreements and stakeholders’ contracts, and while we eager to push forward, we cannot commit to a confirmed start date, but we are confident it will happen within this year, with the view to launching during 2023.”
Durban-based NGO Active Citizens Movement (ACM) said it was “sceptical” about the project.
“In the aftermath of repeated flooding in eThekwini and KwaZulu-Natal, with massive infrastructure repair costs, there are several questions that remain unanswered in the minds of ratepayers,” said the organisation’s Aslam Mayat.
“While we are told this is a private development, with no expense to ratepayers, the land belongs to the city and ratepayers as a whole.
“Private investment that will boost jobs and tourism is welcome. Private-public partnership is encouraged.
“However, SAA and countless others have taught us that full transparent disclosure is required before civil society can express an informed opinion.
“If the wheel comes off like the SkyCar or ongoing bus debacle, will the city step in with bailouts?”
Community activist Imtiaz Syed said while residents “appreciate recreational improvements across the city, it would be highly inappropriate for things like a Ferris wheel or, for that matter, an exorbitantly priced flag in our current climate, especially in eThekwini.
“We have not realised the full impact of the floods. We cannot get basic service delivery right, yet we focus on items of recreation.
“How would this even be a tourist attraction when our biggest tourist attraction — the Golden Mile — is unusable due to Ecoli.
The rate-paying public is completely fed up with the state of things, which has undoubtedly fuelled the response to the Durban Eye. However, my understanding is that it is a private investment and council was not asked to approve any related costs.
— eThekwini’s DA caucus leader Nicole Graham
“We must, as a city, quickly realise the difference between must-haves and nice-to-haves ... ” said Syed.
eThekwini’s DA caucus leader Nicole Graham told Sunday Times Daily: “The plan that we saw when this item was originally tabled in 2020 was that the municipality was securing the land via Transnet and making it available to a private contractor, who would develop and manage the Durban Eye.
“The matter wasn’t communicated properly and the prevailing public frustration seems to stem from the perception that this would be funded by the municipality.”
Graham believes a major challenge facing the city “is that tourism attractions cannot succeed without a safe and clean environment and without stable infrastructure that the municipality must provide, but has failed to do so.
“The municipality has also failed to maintain and effectively operate city-owned tourist attractions like the SkyCar and many of the municipality’s entities are in serious financial trouble, like the [Moses Mabhida] stadium and uShaka.
470,000 -- the number of jobs lost in the tourism sector due to Covid-19
9.5% -- the contribution by the tourism sector to KZN's GDP before Covid-19
60 metres -- the height of the Durban Eye
— IN NUMBERS:
“The rate-paying public is completely fed up with the state of things, which has undoubtedly fuelled the response to the Durban Eye. However, my understanding is that it is a private investment and council was not asked to approve any related costs,” said Graham.
Mokgatle said the company was determined to make the project viable.
“One of the owners is a board member of the African Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions (AAVEA) and as such Durban Eye forms part of professionals in the attractions industry. The AAVEA platform has given the company much insight on how best to manage an attraction such as this.
“AAVEA members include Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, which is home to the Cape Wheel.”
Mayisela said the municipality’s supply chain management department closed bids with one offer submitted for the project.
“This was evaluated and subsequently Durban Iye Company pre-qualified onto a panel ... "
He said once a lease fee proposal is submitted “the site will be handed over to the bidder to commence with their final design and construction phase”.
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