Do better, municipalities

Scrutinise the attitude of municipal authorities towards campsites, says Neels van Heerden.

Recent research by a professor at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) indicates that about 70% of municipal caravan parks in the Western Cape are located in either Cape Town, Saldanha Bay, Mossel Bay, Hessequa, the Cederberg, Cape Agulhas, the Berg River, or Overstrand. The research paper quotes a director who is involved in the management of municipal parks in one of these local authorities, and he says the main purpose of their parks isn’t creation of income. Rather, it’s done for the sake of jobs for the local community, as well as creating an indirect income through tourism. Except for the ATKV Hartenbos, which has good occupation figures all year round. (The peak season for most of these resorts is over December and the Easter weekend.) Long-term campers – the so-called Swallows, who flee south to escape the winter cold – and travellers who overnight or attend festivals, supplement their income in off-peak times. And it’s especially this additional spending by visitors to businesses outside the caravan parks that makes it a no-brainer to maintain the standard of facilities in municipal resorts and modernise them regularly. A major reason for subletting municipal resorts is to shift some of the risk while alleviating the cost burden on local authorities. The big advantage is that the local authority creates rental income, promotes job creation, and stimulates the economy of the town and its surrounding area. There are, however, several examples of municipal authorities that don’t have the faintest idea how to manage a caravan park as an income-generating asset. Unfortunately, there are also numerous examples of outsourced municipal resorts that cannot cope. In the Makana Municipality and Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, the UJ’s research found, among other things, that structural defects in buildings, poor maintenance, problems with stormwater, corruption, maladministration, and fraud caused the caravan parks to fail. An astonishing finding is that in most smaller towns there is no direct link between caravan park management and local tourism organisations. There are seven caravan parks in the area near Saldanha Bay, but according to a municipal official, there is almost no communication with local tourism organisations. Such a communication channel must be in place so there can be a purposeful strategy to market resorts as destinations. The Cederberg Municipality is mentioned as a local authority that has a subdepartment that handles caravan parks and improves communication. One case where a local authority finally woke up is the Walter Sisulu municipality in the Eastern Cape, with its headquarters in Burgersdorp. In December 2021, they began a tender process to refurbish and maintain the Aliwal North Spa. It makes sense that a municipal head office would rather outsource a resort that’s difficult to manage, being more than 60 km away. Hopefully, this resort will be restored to its former glory. La Mouette Caravan Park on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast shut its gates somewhere around 2007, but apparently the Ilembe District municipality recently upgraded the resort for a huge tender amount. The facilities have been renewed and the park appeared to be rejuvenated. A local resident tried to pop in this past December, but security staff turned them away. They report the place looks pretty dilapidated again. Now, why award a tender if everything is allowed to go to waste? Camp activists all over South Africa must aim their magnifying glasses at the attitude of municipal authorities towards campsites.