Winelands town divided by Skytram proposal
Cable car will travel between a wine farm and a nature reserve in Franschhoek
Mr Singh believes in low impact, but high value, tourism. The skytram will not be in keeping with this philosophy and therefore he does not support it Spokesperson for Leeu Collection owner Analjit Singh, left
History is repeating itself in the Cape winelands where the family that cofounded the cableway up Table Mountain is leading the charge for a second one outside the country’s “food and wine capital”.
The proposed skytram in Franschhoek would travel roughly the same distance as the cable cars on Table Mountain, between a wine farm and a nature reserve at the top of Franschhoek Pass.
A key shareholder of the company behind the project is the Graaff family, via a company called Milnerton Estates. Pioneering business person and former parliamentarian Sir David Pieter De Villiers Graaff was cofounder of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company in 1926 with Anglo American founder Ernest Oppenheimer.
With the 99-year Table Mountain cableway lease due to expire in 2025, the Franschhoek skytram could potentially continue the Graaff family business legacy. As Cape Town mayor in the late 19th century Sir Graaff oversaw the building of the city’s first power station and many reservoirs.
But this time the Graaffs and their project partners face far stiffer opposition than a century ago, not least because the proposed upper cable station will be in a Unesco World Heritage Site.
They also face growing resistance from some Franschhoek residents for whom a cable car would signal the death knell for the quiet town, better known for upmarket wine soirées and literary retreats than aerial tourism.
Objectors include businessmen with deep pockets such as billionaire Analjit Singh who bought several top-end properties and renown hotels such as Le Quartier Français and Leeu House.
“Mr Singh believes in low impact, but high value, tourism,” said his Leeu Collection company spokesperson Nicolette Waterford. “The skytram will not be in keeping with this philosophy and therefore he does not support it.”
Heated debate over the skytram has already replaced the town’s genteel narrative with insulting social media posts and threats of legal action. “We are highly divided as a community as a result of the cable car, and that for me is the worrying factor,” said Wilfred Moses, who sits on both the local ratepayers’ association and the business chamber. “Whether or not the project goes ahead, we will still be here but immense damage will have been done to the relationships.”
A disruptive project feedback session this week saw police resources deployed around a community hall.
The extent of the damage, or economic benefit, lies at the heart of the debate, which has been raging since last year when the developers commenced an initial push for environmental approval, in the form of a series of impact assessments.
Project supporters insist the positives far outweigh the negatives. The project team said benefits included:
A R190m injection into the local economy during the construction phase and 726 jobs (of which 159 will be direct as a result of the capital expenditure);
A further R41m a year to the economy during the operational phase, sustaining 131 jobs (of which 67 will be direct as a result of the operational expenditure); and
New amenities including an all-day restaurant, souvenir shop, heritage and environmental display, adventure centre and paragliding launch area within the 4,816m2 upper cable station.
But detractors counter with a long list of concerns, including:
Erosion of the town’s tranquil charm due to traffic congestion and, for some, a dramatically altered skyline;
Serious environmental consequences on flora and fauna, particularly in the municipality-owned Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve where Cape leopards still roam; and
Inadequate electricity infrastructure to provide the required power.
Some question the development’s empowerment credentials, in light of the Graaff family continuing to benefit from the Table Mountain cableway. The Graaff Trust has diverse land holdings and a claim to the 225ha Wingfield airbase which will revert to the trust should it no longer be needed for military purposes, as per a sales agreement during World War 2.
Unesco said it has not yet been informed of developments, which could impinge on an internationally protected site.
“If there is concern for the integrity of the site, a dialogue is initiated between experts from the World Heritage Centre and the authorities to adjust the project and find the right balance to fully respect the outstanding universal value of the site,” said the World Heritage Centre.
The department of forestry, fisheries & the environment confirmed minister Barbara Creecy would need to sign off on the project due to its status as “the core area of an internationally designated Unesco Biosphere Reserve”.
The development site falls just outside the core of the Cape Floristic World Heritage Site.
Stellenbosch municipality spokesperson Stuart Grobbelaar said approval is needed for a separate land use application, which still needed to be advertised for public comment. “No official approvals have been granted by the municipality at this stage.”
Skytram project manager Alwyn Laubscher said the development could transform winelands tourism much like the Table Mountain cableway redefined the Cape Town tourism experience. Such progress required investor support, in this case largely by the Graaff family.
“Sir David Graaff was one of the original investors in the Table Mountain cableway and the family have had representation on the board for many years. They understand what it takes for a cableway operation to be successful and believe that the Franschhoek skytram is an ambitious tourism project with the potential to create a sustainable future for Franschhoek and its 22,000 residents.
“Every cableway project is different and it is not the intention to replicate the Table Mountain cableway but rather to find an offering that showcases Franschhoek’s unique qualities while remaining sensitive to what makes Franschhoek the tourist attraction and town that it is, and optimising the potential socioeconomic benefits that this project can bring to the community,” he said.
Other skytram shareholders include lawyer Justin Truter and Beat Musveld, a retired manager of Swiss cable car systems company Doppelmayr/Garaventa, which has helped design the Franschhoek concept. Laubscher said it is unfortunate that objectors do not “embrace the opportunity for progress by engaging with the developers to ensure the design is optimised and benefits maximised”. The skytram would be the largest investment in the town to date.
Worldwide there are 38 cableways in World Heritage Sites, including the Table Mountain cableway, he said. Community leader Sylvia Bell said investors should rather plough money into urgent community needs.
A Facebook post by resident Fiona Mill said: “It is absolutely abhorrent that a small group of powerfully influential individuals should not only be able to annex a mountain for their own personal financial gain, but to stuff up the environment permanently.”