Barbara Cole
Now dilapidated, the once-proud, historic Royal Natal National Park Hotel may be restored, writes
DOMESTIC and foreign tourists have long bemoaned and agonised over the decaying ruin of what remains of the onceproud, historic Royal Natal National Park Hotel in the Drakensberg.
They have to drive past it to get to other attractions in the northern Drakensberg and have been appalled at the sorry sight of the vandalised derelict shell – trees growing inside the buildings and damaging the walls, the tall weeds and long grass in the former dining room where Queen Elizabeth II, as princess, celebrated her 21st birthday.
Heritage experts describe its condition as “demolition by neglect”.
But now there is hope for “the embarrassing eyesore”, as concerned and interested observers have called the dilapi- dated landmark in expressing their dismay on The Heritage Portal.
Sixteen years after the popular family hotel shut its doors, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, which owns the structure, said last week that the strategic plan was to get a private partner to build, operate and market the facility.
This process started three years ago, when the public-private partnership (PPP) was registered with the provincial Treasury department, Ezemvelo spokesman, Musa Mntambo, explained.
Ezemvelo then engaged Grant Thornton to help the organisation in conducting a feasibility study, which “confirmed the potential in redeveloping the hotel”.
The estimated cost of developing the hotel was done when the feasibility study was concluded, but this figure remains confidential.
Parties
However, interested parties would also be conducting their own studies to fit in with the cost of what they planned to do.
“The estimated costs will be provided to the interested bidders as an open process at the appropriate time,” Mntambo said.
In February-March this year, Ezemvelo went out on an “expression of interest” exercise – calling on organisations to state if they were interested in the project. This was presented to the Ezemvelo board in May, Mntambo said.
The number of organisations showing an interest has not been disclosed.
The aim was not to leave the facility to waste further, the spokesman said, “but the process, as is the case with PPPs, takes longer to finalise”.
At the moment, it was with Ezemvelo’s supply chain (procurement) team “who will be working with the transactional advisory team in the process of appointing the private partner”.
Asked when the tender was likely to go out to bidders, Mntambo said that nobody knew, as “these things depend on whether the relevant committees sit”.
As to the length of time the hotel would take to be restored to its glory, that would depend on the successful investor’s business plan.
“Obviously, there are parts of the old building that are under Amafa (the provincial heritage conservation agency) and any demolition would need their authority,” Mntambo said.
Anna van de Venter Radford, the deputy director of research, compliance and professional services at Amafa/ Heritage/Erfenis KZN, confirmed that Ezemvelo would need permits and permission from it for both a restoration or demolition.
“The site is of heritage value and the first prize would be to restore it, or at least elements of it,” she said.
Amafa was concerned about the state of the site, but was bound by the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, which meant it had to approach entities such as Ezemvelo in a manner that strove to promote co-operation rather than conflict.
“The matter remains on the table and with renewed public interest, we can hopefully assist them in remedying the status quo,” she said.
She recalled that over the years, Amafa had conducted three formal assessments by professional heritage architects, and Ezemvelo had received copies of all of them and the matter had also been discussed at joint forums.
The hotel and the park received the “Royal” title after the visit by the British royal family in 1947, which boosted the popularity of the hotel.
Special accommodation was built for King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and their daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.
A row of yellowwood trees was planted in their honour, with the royal party also planting a tree.
Apart from the royal link, the cast and crew of the famous film, Zulu, also stayed at the hotel, which adds “another layer of significance to the site”, said James Ball, who wrote an article on a 2014 visit to the site by followers of The Heritage Portal.
Another follower, Richard Eades, who nominated the site for the attention of the portal, told how the building started out as a hostel in 1903.
It was enlarged in 1916, becoming a popular retreat for mountaineers. After burning down in 1941, it was rebuilt on more spacious lines.
He said recently that he really hoped the hotel would be rebuilt and used again.
“In particular, I hope that the people in the area will benefit from job opportunities and training in the hospitality industry, and that more tourists will come to enjoy the spectacular mountain scenery of the Drakensberg.”
Speaking for The Heritage Monitoring Project, James Stolz said it welcomed the news of development.
Sites
“Part of the aim of the endangered campaign is to bring urgency to sites that clearly hold development potential – and this site clearly holds opportunities for development in partnership with the private sector.”
Saying that the restoration needed to happen in a manner that responded to the heritage values of the site and its broader environmental context, he added: “We look forward to the day when we can remove the site from our list.”
Just why did the hotel close down, though?
Previous articles have explained that the last lessee, the Kapp family, had wanted to upgrade and refurbish the hotel in the 1990s.
The owners, the Natal Parks Board (later to become Ezemvelo), was not willing to negotiate a long lease. With the family’s 20-year-old lease up in 2000, they were not ready to run the hotel on a month-tomonth basis.
Linda Kapp told a tourism researcher that because the Natal Parks Board had advertised that the hotel was closing down, she could not take advance bookings.
Within a year, the Natal Parks Board changed its mind and asked if she would renew the lease. But by then, the hotel had lost its market share and it was all too late.