Lost domestic tourism associated with 4x4 ban still a problem.

The closure of all beaches in South Africa in terms of legislation passed way back in 2002 needs to be revisited as it caused many job losses with TKZN (Tourism Kwa Zulu Natal) issuing a document ( Ocassional Paper 20 ) suggesting that more than 20 000 economic opportunities were lost  along the Elephant Coast of KZN as a knock on impact of the 4x4 ban.

We would like to have this issue revisited, and properly addressed. In the past the IWPA used all kinds of devious political tricks to side step the issue. We now need to open the debate about the extreme economic impact of these issues on the domestic tourism industry of St. Lucia and surrounding rural areas.  see  OCCASIONAL PAPER 20 by KZN

this issue of low tourism numbers has many knock on impacts, which are very difficult to overcome without serious government support.  There has been very little visible government support within the rural areas of Mtubatuba local municipality and surrounding rural areas of the other local municipalities in the Umkhanyakude District Municipality.  domestic tourism is still very poor and has not recovered at all since the 4x4 ban.  International tourism has however increased significantly, and the tourism  consumer pattern within the Umkhanyakude district municipality has changed drasticaly, but the rural folks are still excluded some how......

WE thus wrote an OPEN LETTER  to the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority ) out lining the problem and requesting assistance  to solve the problem.   this fell on closed ears and blind eyes....  so we need to take further steps and  bring the matter before the public, and then take legal action if the IWPA still shows us the middle finger...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx2QSHFfEjk2TTcyTHpjeWZZMUk/view?usp=sharing

the 4x4 ban was the start of many problems that followed.  bad management of the lake along with its tourism potential followed and also needs serious high level government  interventions.   lake St. Lucia and associated estuary is ( was )  the primary  breeding ground for many marine species, and the fact that the lake is still dysfunctional is a real concern, which should be elevated to a national disaster #NATIONALDISASTER

what to do and which way to get the right folks to see the problem is not as easy as it appears to be.  your help in talking about these issues and sharing this post within the social media space, asking for alternative views or open honest discussion around these very thorny issues  will be appreciated.


#4x4ban
#Frankie2socks

Fishing in St. Lucia, KZN South Africa 10 November 2017

Eventuality  had some time  to go fishing today,  10 November 2017, but the weather  did not play fair.  Took a walk down past the St. Lucia I a Skiboat  club, then along the board walk to the beach.

The water was looking good, but the side wash picked up quite seriously  just before low tide, and the wind picked up bringing some rain.  Ran away, and had a beer at the St.  Lucia Ski boat  club, then toddled off home with ZERO FISH...

Thanx for reading here. Please sign our petition here 

4X4 BAN and the Mtubatuba IDP process.

The 4x4 ban,  or the closure of our beaches to reasonable motor vehicle access, has had a rather nasty impact on the tourism associated with recreational use of the South African beaches within rural areas along the South African Coast line

In the Elephant Coast region,  where the IWPA are in control  of the coastal zone, and manage the area in accordance with the world heritage act, these losses have been very pronounced and rather disturbing, causing huge economic issues, which have been festering and causing anger amongst the folks on the ground for the last 15 years.  way back in 2004 KZN TOURISM estimated these economic losses caused the tourism industry of Umkhanyakude District Municipality to shed in excess of 20 000 jobs.

  These 20 000 job losses were never addressed, as the IWPA claimed that they had these issues, under control,  and that the envisaged INTERNATIONAL TOURISM that would be generated through the marketing of the world heritage status of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Wold Heritage Site and the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative would off set these losses.   These tourism gains due to the world heritage status of the park, as well as other government initiatives, including but not limited to the LSDI, never materialized. 

It is thus time to take action and demand an answer from central government what they are doing to alleviate the serious economic losses caused by the 4x4 ban.  This will be accomplished by taking the issue up at the Mtubatuba Local Municipality IDP structures and requesting that the various role

players come and explain their role in ensuring the failure of the domestic tourism sector within the Umkhanyakude district municipality, focusing on the Mtubatuba Local municipality, and the St. Lucia tourism node, which is the region that suffered the biggest losses with the local arts and crafts industry collapsing and disappearing .

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority is the government appointed body  to look after the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park World Heritage Site along the Elephant Coast of KZN South Africa.  It is the duty of the IWPA or the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority to ensure that tourism associated with the use of our first world heritage site is equitable and reaches the majority of tourism stake holders within the area (Umkhanyakude District Municipality)  The IWPA have failed miserably due to the implementation f the 4x4 ban which did not go down well with the domestic tourism market shedding more than 20 000 jobs, as per the last paragraph on page two of this document by KZN Tourism.  

what to do and which way forward is now an issue that needs urgent attention from central government, with the question being  

1) Do we mine the lake, leaving the rehabilitation up to the IWPA,  or 

2) do we push tourism as an alternative, or 

3) do we chase the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority out of town, then mine the lake, and rehabilitate the area to be the biggest nature based tourism project ever ?

my self personally, I like option 3.......

See open letter to the Mtubatuba Local Municipality here for more

The heat is about to be turned up, and there is a new leadership at the IWPA

Andrew Zaloumis has run away from his responsibilities as CEO of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority, and we have a new fella in charge of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority.

Let's hope the new guy has a fresh attitude, and appreciates DOMESTIC TOURISTS.........

The 4x4 BAN ISSUED is a out to get more attention, and our petition at AVAAZ needs your signature.

We also have pages at 4x4ban.blogspot.com

Your support in signing our petition will  be appreciated

The IWPA needs to please explain their esturay managment strategies

Please sign our petition

The St. Lucia Estuary is currently ( SEPTEMBER 2017 ) a disaster zone, and the ecological biodiversity within the Lake St. Lucia and the St. Lucia Estuary system has collapsed. The Estuary Management  plan for the St. Lucia Estuary as is mandated in the Integrated Coastal Management Act is not in the public zone, and we need to know why. 

Please sign our petition so we can have a mandate from the public to take some actions at the local Municipality level to have the issues of bad management within the IWPA addressed.

 

The IWPA or iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority has not held proper public participation process meetings within the Mtubatuba Municipality, and the tourism associated with the St. Lucia lake and estuary systems  has not been included in the economic development forums of the Mtubatuba municipality Local Municipality IDP as id mandated in many different laws and legislations associated with the management of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park such as the 4x4 ban  and the Integrated Coastal Management Act.

to download this letter as a PDF file click here

Start quote of letter to iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority

Old School Birding Club <marketing.osbc@info4u.co.za>

water flow issues within the lake St. Lucia system. 1 message

Old School Birding Club <marketing.osbc@info4u.co.za>

Sun, Sep 17, 2017 at 4:26 PM To: info@isimangaliso.com

OPEN LETTER addressed to info@isimangaliso.com and published to 4x4ban.blogspot.com then shared on social media.

info@isimangaliso.com is the registered email address for the IWPA --- iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority see their web site at www.isimangaliso.com

attention administrative staff at the IWPA

Hi

Many thanx for your post on FB https://web.facebook.com/iSimangalisoWetlandPark/posts/ 896067270542666

I have a few questions but am not sure where or who to ask. Can you link me up with the correct folks ?

I received an email containing a news flash from newsflash@isimangaliso.com on 10 September 2017 (covering the same subject matter) and this seems to be rather confusing info. Either the scientists concerned are trying to fool us as the general public, or they are not qualified to do the job, as the info put forward is rather incorrect in many aspects.

lets start with the issue of the water flow between the ocean and the estuary....

does the estuary system include the lake or is it only the Umfolozi river flood plains ?

I was always under the impression that the estuary system included the water flow in and out of lake St. Lucia. If this is wrong then I apologise. If this is right, your scientists need a slap on the ear, and a rather tight solid one that makes their head spin... so that they can catch a wake up!!!!

From the article it is clear that they talk of the lake, but they deliberately neglect to discuss the water flow patterns which are needed to scour the estuary mouth clean, along with the water volume flow measurements, which keep the lake system from silting up.. they keep discussing the water flow of the Umfolozi river as if this is the only issue at stake. The Umfolozi river only really comes into play when there are drought conditions, and the mouth to the estuary system is closed to prevent the lake from becoming a salt pan, which nature takes care of itself. . Water evaporation is the issue here, as sea water would replace the evaporated water in the lake system, and cause ultra high salt level problems very soon, leaving the lake as a salt pan. This was close to happening, and we had a total fish die out when the lake actually dried up. This has not been declared an international disaster zone, in my mind due to tourism issues, with the IWPA fearing a collapse in tourism due to the bad publicity, and that is a major threat to the future of our tourism associated with lake St. Lucia. If the lake is not part of the tourism picture we will all be in trouble, coz the beaches are already out of the picture due to the 4x4 ban and the subsequent job losses where KZN tourism estimates more than 20 000 job losses in the formal tourism sector as in their occasional paper 20, found here http://www.zulu.org.za/userfiles/1/file/ ForIvestorandResearcher/Research/Occ%20Papers%20PDFs/Occ%20paper%2020% 20Legislation%20on%20the%20Use%20of%204X4's%20on%20Beaches%20.pdf see last paragraph on page 2

Who can I speak to so that I may find out more, and where may I find the IWPA input to the Integrated Estuary Management Plan as is mandated by the ICMA (Integrated Coastal Management Act 2008) chapter 4 sections 33 and 34

From the news flash article it is clear that the scientists in question who put this plan together have an agenda other than the natural rehabilitation of the lake and related estuary system. This needs to be explained at the PPPM (Public Participation Process Meetings) which are mandated in terms of the NEMA (National Environmental Management Act) and these issues also need to be included in both the Mtubatuba Local Municipality IDP, and the UMkhanyakude District Municipality IDP, so that these can then be included in the Provincial IDP and then pushed to the central Government IDP. This is essential as the estuary management is not exclusive to the St. Lucia estuary mouth, but also includes the lake systems, the fresh water catchment zones and the subsequent silt flow patterns that are in place due to a host of different reasons including but not limited to

bad agricultural practices in the estuary catchment zones bad land management in state owned lands in the estuary fresh water catchment zones over grazing in rural farm lands, which fall within the estuary fresh water catchm3ent zones bad land management in game parks (Hluhluwe / Umfolozi parks) and poor information flow patterns between the IWPA and the rest of the world, which are stilted and often not inclusive of the bad community impacts associated with the IWPA decisions.

Many of these estuary fresh water catchment zones are not even in the UMkhanyakude District Mu8nicipality, which compounds the need to have this addressed at provincial level through the provincial IDP

see these video discussing the missing silt traps along the Umfolozi River and related problems which your scientists are apparently sidestepping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMpYyg5wt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwpQE_tdp-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpDp-s4EZHY

this is a serious matter, and somebody needs to be held accountable.

your help in assisting me to find the required information, and who to speak to , so as to evaluate an amicable way forward will be appreciated.

I used the email address admin@info4u.co.za to request registration with the IWPA integrated management plan, which is the equivalent of the municipal IDP , but for some reason this has not been activated and I do not receive the necessary invites or updates to these management plans. It is my opinion that this email address admin@info4u.co.za has been blacklisted, or labelled as spam by the IWPA administrative system. This is a problem in my mind....

Your advice of what my next step should be, before legal action is taken to force the issue will be appreciated, as I would prefer to solve these problems without legal actions which will be very bad for tourism within the area as a whole. We all rely on tourism, so when this dries up there will be other problems... no tourists in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park is not a good thing for anybody. the 4x4 ban has already cost us dearly with KZN TOURISM in their occasional PAPER 20 (see link above)

estimating job losses in excess of 20 000 way back in 2004. Many things have changed since then, but domestic tourism has not recovered, and the IWPA are not doing anything visible to get domestic tourism numbers back up to where they were prior to the 4x4 ban. The recent destruction of perfectly functioning infrastructure which is mainly used by domestic tourists at the St. Lucia Estuary Mouth, and the extreme bad parking planning, along the St. Lucia beach front adds to this perception that the IWPA are anti domestic tourists within the park as a whole. see http://zululandobserver.co.za/ 153111/demolition-works-st-lucias-estuary-beach/ a clear way forward where information flow between the park and concerned citizens is addressed at the mandated public participation process meetings will be truly appreciated. If this is not activated soon, we will be forced to take alternative actions which include legal steps to force the issue. these will give out such a vastly negative vibe that tourism within the area will be drastically affected. We wish to minimise this impact, so please help us to connect with the right folks who can ensure that our concerns are addressed in an open and transparent manner where all will be happy..

looking forward to your response.

FRANKIE2SOCKS

End quote of letter to iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority



Please sign our petition

Please sign our petition so we can have a mandate from the public to take some actions at the local Municipality level to have the issues of bad management within the IWPA addressed.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and Public Participation Process Meetings

iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and Public Participation Process Meetings

 The  iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority  ( IWPA ) is in place to manage the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park World Heritage site,  South Africa's first world heritage site, which was renamed as the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site after the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean acquired its own world heritage site, and there was confusion over which St. Lucia world heritage site was being discussed. The IWPA or iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority is mandated by the WHCA or World Heritage Convention act  to manage the park for us as world citizens.  We as local residents who live adjacent to and  within the park, are supposed to benefit from the tourism  associated with  the park.   Here Section 22 of the

act is very clear, and mandates the IWPA to integrate their management plan with all three tiers of

government through its IMP process. 

tier one = local municipality and district municipality level

tier two = provincial level 

tier three = central government level

to down load your copy of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority's Integrated Management Plan click the link below.

 #IMP = #INTEGRATEDMANAGEMENTPLAN 

Integrated Management Plan for the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

This is however not  the case, and the South African or DOMESTIC TOURISM MARKET is currently very under developed and not supported by the IWPA's attitude and plan, Where they want to push international tourism to the exclusion of domestic, regional and local tourism.  

In the past (pre #4X4BAN ) this was the major tourism sector, with

international tourism making up just under 8 % of the total tourism volume.  Today domestic tourism only makes up a small percentage of tourists visiting St. Lucia, with international tourism being the dominant sector, and a very large percentage of these tourists spending less than 4 hours in St. Lucia, only stopping over long enough to do the estuary boat cruise.  The only beneficiaries of this bulk based international sausage machine tourism  is the IWPA and the boat owners.  Many of the INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS  doing these boat trips do not even stop over for coffee in our area.

These issues are not discussed at the #IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) #IMPPPPM (Integrated Management Plan,  Public Participation Process Meetings)  and there is no clear future plan discussed with the communities of #DUKUDUKUSOUTH,  #KHULAVILLAGE and the domestic fishing tourist, showing how and where the local communities surrounding the park, are meant to become involved and do their part so that they may get their share of the income generated by the parks actions, in-actions, events management and community development levies.

This is in gross violation of the original ROD taken to implement 4x4 ban found here where section A clause 6 and section B clause 6 as well as section C clause 6,  discusses a particular reporting issue that needs to be discussed and integrated into the Mtubatuba local municipalities IDP STRUCTURES and other statuary mandated planing process such as  the Estuary Management Plans mandated by the Integrated Coastal Management Act

the WHCA or World Heritage convention act, in section 22  discusses these issues again, where the IWPA is mandated to integrate their development plans with all three tiers of government.   this must how ever be re3ad in conjunction with section 13 of this same act....

I am in the process of finding support to push this issue hard at the upcoming Mtubatuba local Municipality Integrated Development Plan, as is mandated in the MUNICIPAL SYSTEMS ACT and associated legislation. The economic losses associated with the VERY POOR MANAGEMENT by the IWPA need to be accounted for and amendments to plans need to be justified or explained. 

Occasional Paper 20 by KZN Tourism discuuses the economic impacts of the 4x4 ban, showing massive joblosses exceeding 20 000 folks as a knock on impact od the 4x4 ban 

more coming soon  #FRANKIE2SOCKS 

What is the annual cost of implementing the 4x4 ban within the Elepehant Coast ?

Sun rise on the beach

There is so much documentation out there discussing the NEGATIVE ECONOMIC impacts of the 4x4 ban, but it appears that these have not been read by the folks on the ground within the #ISIMANGALISO wetland park and surrounding rural areas of Umkhanyakude district municipality.

firstly there is the OCCASIONAL PAPER 20 BY KZN TOURISM    found here Tourism KwaZulu-Natal's Occasional Research Papers and Ad Hoc Research Projects

then there are a number of documents that were live on this web site http://www.acerafrica.co.za/ which have since been removed or made unavailable to the public. Acer Africa has been the #IWPA or iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authorities preferred environmental consulting company for a number of years.

The IWPA and associates have many nasty political tricks that they implement, and their PPP or Public Participation Programs are quite well disguised and often hidden from the public through disingenuous tricks and sneaky public perception management strategies.

The current situation where they (IWPA and associates) hold impromptu road blocks and search vehicles for alcoholic beverages when en-route the the local St. Lucia beaches    is also an emotional issue as most South Africans appreciate a beer with their braai.  when this is a problem then the South African Tourists tend to pack up and leave town.  

This attack on our rights to enjoy a beer with a braai is quite a big thing from a tourism perspective, as it chases the lo0cal and domestic tourist out of town.  In the past (pre 2002) this was the main stay of all tourism in St. Lucia with international visitors being very few and far between.  The IWPA decided for us that we should no longer welcome South African folks, but focus on international tourism.

If you take your time and evaluate the OCCASIONAL PAPER 20  (link above) you will soon see that more than 20 000 folks lost their economic opportunities due to the knock on impact of South African Folks no longer feeling welcome within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage site.

these economic  losses are huge,  and have never been fully disclosed to the public at any PPPM or Public Participation Process Meeting.held by the IWPA.  WE will soon be challenging this, as the original ROD (Record of Decision)  clearly stipulates that this must happen.  there is supposewd to be an annual review which the minister gets.  this annual review is supposed to (at least in my mind) go through a public participation process in terms of the this ROD but we as the public are left in the dark and fed the biggest pile of hog wash in show and tell meetings that are meant to be Public Participation Process Meetings.

This will soon be a topic of discussion t the Mtubatuba Locla Municipality RDP process, and cause many red faces and lots of  political posturing.  The St. Lucia tourism folks need to brace themselves for the fall out from these political posturing moves and the public reaction that will follow.

WE as the public will soon be requesting an explanation from the new minister of tourism.... asking for the economic costs incurred to enforce the 4x4 Ban including the cost of lost tourism.

this will cause many problems and open the can of worms, spilling them on the dinner table while the guests are eating ....

We can expect some strange reactions from the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and the Minister, as this is a big problem where the local community of the St. Lucia area ;ost more than 20 000 jobs due to government attitude. 

Which way the Mtubatuba Local municipality will react is an open question, as these are all new councilors, with none of those who were in power way back in 2000 still being in power....

Frankie2socks is in town....