Cape Town - More tourists were visiting the Cango Caves, said the Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning.
Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell told the Western Cape Legislature's standing committee on local government that the number of tourists visiting the caves had increased by 29 percent in May, compared to the same month last year.
“The current visitor numbers for the month of May is 15 222 compared to 11 795 for the same month last year,” Bredell said.
Bredell noted that this increase was “further evidence of the positive impact of the ongoing intervention in Oudtshoorn”.
He added that revenue had increased from R562 535 to R640 497 over the same period.
He said the growth was an indication of the “good progress made in turning Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves around” after intervention measures last year.
The department's acting head, Graham Paulse, said that to ensure the long-term sustainability and success of the tourist attraction, “a task team has been looking into long-term solutions for the Cango Caves”.
Paulse said: “One of the suggestions is to take away the responsibility of managing the Caves from the municipality. Further consultation must still take place but the initial assessment is that it may be best to make the Cango Caves a public entity that would not be managed by the municipality.
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The public entity would be made up of national, provincial and municipal representatives, as well as representatives from the local community.”
African News Agency