Troubled waters
ROBBEN Island is unique in the world of tourism: a former symbol of oppression that is now a shrine to our democracy. Visitors come from far and wide to pay homage to Nelson Mandela and the fellow political prisoners who helped shape our country.
It was worrying then that in the wake of Mandela’s death last year, during peak tourism season, the ferry service that takes tourists to the island was on its knees. Tours were cancelled on popular holidays like the Day of Goodwill, and significant revenue would have been lost.
While festive season visitor numbers for all of Cape Town’s other main tourist attractions showed healthy increases, Robben Island was the only one that showed a decline, of 5 percent, in the number of visitors last year compared with 2012.
The Robben Island Museum (RIM) has now invited tenders for two new vessels. Chief executive Sibongiseni Mkhize says it is in response to the complaints over the festive season.
But the acquisition of new ferries is not necessarily the silver bullet that will overcome all of RIM’s woes. It will know that despite the acquisition of slick new vessels a few years ago, it caused the RIM management endless headaches.
Mkhize’s management style of making himself accessible and answering questions from the media directly is refreshing and a step in the right direction.
He has his work cut out for him in changing perceptions of an ailing ferry service and management that has been in crisis for a long time.
The Department of Arts and Culture has a duty to expose South Africans to our national heritage and make places of significance, like Robben Island, accessible. One way to restore good faith with the public would be perhaps to implement a two-tier ticketing system where tourists are charged the premium rate while locals would pay a special concessionary rate. A visit to Madiba’s cell should be compulsory for every school child.
What is sorely needed, in addition to new ferries, is sound corporate management and a board that is transparent with, of course, the best interests of the island at heart and nothing else.