Durban - The KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs handed over R1.2 million worth of 10 quad bikes to a youth-owned and rural holiday destination in Somopho Hills in Empangeni on Friday.
MEC Siboniso Duma said the handover was meant to boost tourism, township and rural economy in KZN.
“Each day, all categories of staff in the department and in our entity, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, are showing a determination to realise our vision of using tourism as a catalyst to stimulate the rural and township economy.”
Duma said Somopho Hills Adventure Park was founded by Lungani Mthembu in 2021, a young entrepreneur and a member of the Mthembu royal family.
“He approached the department with a vision of uplifting his local and rural community. He is passionate about conserving the rich Zulu heritage and the beauty of the untouched wilderness that has survived for centuries. By and large, the livelihood of the people from the Somopho village has been based on livestock and subsistence agriculture. Now they are involved in tourism and 15 local youth are employed by the adventure park.”
The MEC said what Mthembu created would last a lifetime.
“I hope this will also inspire more young people to look around their own communities and search for ways to use what they have, to build more innovative tourism products that create jobs for their communities.”
Duma added that a great part of Somopho Hills Adventure Park was the deeply rooted culture of Zulu storytelling, bringing the rich stories and traditions of the past to life.
“This storytelling promotes our culture and heritage to fellow South Africans and global travellers who will take their experience to their families and friends and inspire them to visit KZN.”
Duma said KZN welcomed 969 765 visitors during the first quarter of this year, a sign that tourism was on its way to recovery.
“Pleasingly, we have noted that the number of foreign visitors to KZN rose to 164 000 in the first quarter of the year, which is the highest since the end of 2020 and indicates a recovery in our foreign market.”
The park’s founder said it started off as a community project but had evolved into the Somopho Hills Adventure Park.
Mthembu said since its opening in 2021, the park had included a plethora of outdoor activities including hiking, paintball, quad biking, bird watching, camping and Zulu storytelling into its offering, enabling visitors to combine the clear air, natural beauty and rich heritage of the region.
Mthembu said he was grateful for the 10 new quad bikes.
“The 10 new quad bikes, acquired via a grant from the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, has enabled Somopho Hills to cater for the growing numbers of visitors and team-building groups from corporates such as Richards Bay Minerals, Foskor and South 32 that are using its facilities for team-building.”
Mthembu said his youth-owned tourism business had two equally important objectives which were uplifting the rural community and conserving the rich heritage that had prevailed for centuries.
“I believed that making a living through tourism in this beautiful rural setting was possible, so I started hiking in the area. Eventually I invited some friends and my girlfriend along to see the sorts of trials that we could create. Then, three of us started building trails – an extreme one for ultra-fit hikers, an easier one for those just starting out and an intermediate one.”
Mthembu added that the park currently employed 15 people who were all under the age of 35.
“They are proud to have made a dream that was birthed during the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic a reality.”