Millions injected into Tshwane tourism hub

The Gauteng government has budgeted R36-million for the expansion of the Cullinan-Roodeplaat-Dinokeng tourism hub for the 2024/5 financial year.

Chief executive officer of tourism authority Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site Association (COHWHS Association) and Dinokeng Projects, Matthew Sathekge, said: “We believe this investment will have significant spin-offs for Tshwane and the communities around these three areas.

“The beneficiation projects in these areas for communities on the borders of the three points of this hub like Hammanskraal and Cullinan, as well as Tshwane itself, will be in the construction of infrastructure like roads, funds spent on conservation to create jobs and funding for public-private partnerships.”

Sathekge emphasised that projects like these have already added more than R24 million to the GDP of Tshwane in this past year.

“This tourism hub can have a significant impact on the city,” said Sathekge.

He is looking forward to taking hands with the metro to see how tourism opportunities in the areas of Cullinan, Dinokeng and Roodeplaat can multiply the contribution of the tourism industry to the city’s residents and coffers.

“With this investment we want to eliminate poverty in and around Tshwane with tourism and hospitality projects and products. We will also actively look for other investors to make use of new opportunities in the area to the benefit of communities included in the Cullinan-Roodeplaat-Dinokeng hub,” said Sathekge.

He is excited about the permission of the provincial and metro authorities that have already been granted for the construction of a hospital for 500 patients in Kekana Gardens and the interest shown by an international company to invest in an established lodge in Dinokeng.

All these plans are part of the provincial government’s five-year plan for the area, which includes a plan to extend the Dinokeng reserve of 19 000 ha to 40 000 ha.

“We want to expand to the north and the south areas and also include Limpopo to be able to offer space to more animals in the Dinokeng reserve,” said Sathekge.

“We also want to channel energy and funds into Cullinan and Roodeplaat.”

He was speaking at the Dinokeng Showcase, a promotion for the area where tourism products were showcased by role players in the area.

Kwalata Lodge CEO Charl Pretorius launched the hub’s tourism information centre during the showcase. This is situated at the entrance to Kwalata Lodge, which can easily be reached from Ndlovu Gate.

He said that tourists can visit the centre and plan all their activities during their stay in the Cullinan-Roodeplaat-Dinokeng hub by speaking to tour planners and assistants.

“It will be the centre in the future from where tourists can operate,” said Pretorius.

He has a dream of Tshwane’s Green Bus doing a lodge crawl as well as a tour of this environmentally rich area which includes Dinokeng Reserve with the Big Five, Roodeplaat Reserve as well as Roodeplaat Dam.

Dinokeng Reserve management association chairman, Hartogh Streicher, said at the Showcase opening that South Africa is a country of hope and opportunities.

He said pioneers started the Dinokeng Reserve just more than 10 years ago with the dream of creating the only Big Five reserve in the world within city limits.

“This was regarded as impossible more than 10 years ago, but here we are with more than 220 landowners taking part in this unique model of conservation,” said Streicher.

Dinokeng consists of pockets of land where owners live or run lodges. Inbetween these pockets are areas made available for animals to roam freely.

It is not a government or SANparks-owned reserve.

Eleven years ago there were less than 20 lodges within the boundaries of Dinokeng Reserve. Today there are more than 80 lodges employing 800 people. Small businesses, like laundries, have sprung up in the reserve and in the surrounding communities to deliver services to the landowners and lodges.

“In the beginning we said we want to take care of Dinokeng so that Dinokeng can take care of the communities. This dream has also been realised,” said Streicher.

The reserve itself employs more than 140 people to take care of conservation and run the reserve.

Entrepreneurs from communities like Hammanskraal, Rust de Winter and Cullinan brought their products to the showcase.

Among them was a unique product from honey collected by community members under the leadership of Lerato Papo and Tebogo Motena.

They were mentored as beekeepers by a German sponsor, the late Anton Schehle, who moved into the Dinokeng area more than two decades ago. The project is beneficial to both the honey-entrepreneurs, as well as the animals of Dinokeng.

Beehives are placed on the border of the Dinokeng Reserve according to an agreement between landowners and the honey entrepreneurs. They collect the honeycombs every two months and bottle the honey in Hammanskraal.

“As elephants can’t stand the smell of honey and do not like the buzzing of bees, it especially keeps the elephants wanting to overstep the boundaries of the reserves within the limits of the reserve. It is a win-win for everybody,” said Papo.

Papo and Mmotena’s honey products can be bought at the Dinokasi shop at the Tau Gate.

The work of well-known bead artist in the Ndebele tradition, Nosinky Sophie Mahlangu, was exhibited. She is a master beadworker and a painter celebrating the traditional Ndebele aesthetic.

She is also an entrepreneur and runs a co-op, Nomhlekabo Craft Africa, in the area. She has exhibited her work locally and internationally.

“I learnt my art skills from my mother. I watched her and played with the loose beads close to her and looked at the way she put colours and patterns together,” said Mahlangu.

*Please note the article has been amended

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