Nearly 40 000 guests attended the Umkhosi Womhlanga in Nongoma over the weekend. | Mandla Mkhize
Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Department (Edtea) MEC, the Reverend Musa Zondi, has vowed to turn the Umkhosi WoMhlanga ceremony into the district's economic driver to the level of the Hollywoodbets Durban July horse racing event. He said this would be done in conjunction with Zululand Tourism.
Speaking to the Daily News on Sunday during the wrapping up of the event at Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma in the north of the province, the department’s head of ministry, Dumisani Khumalo, and Zululand Tourism CEO Nathi Mayise said it was part of Zondi’s vision that all traditional ceremonies taking place in the Zulu kingdom must be turned into economic activities which will boost the tourism economy and create job opportunities for locals.
Khumalo added that Zondi was not happy with Durban and Pietermaritzburg having a monopoly as economic centres of the province.
“Watch this space. Next year you will see a different Umkhosi Womhlanga. We have put plans in place to ensure it reaches the level of the Durban July horse racing event.
“For the first time this year, we had a number of companies exhibiting their products, so next year we will have more companies exhibiting their products as you always see at the Durban July.
“We are busy selling the idea to the companies that this event is no longer about cultural activities only but a tourism and business event. As a government, we have managed to bring close to 40 000 people together without sponsorship so we want to say to private businesses here is the market take advantage of it and market your products,” said Khumalo.
He said this weekend’s event boosted the district’s economy with an estimated R18-R20 million. He hoped that the final calculation would peak at R25m, which was recorded last year.
Khumalo said the district’s economic spin-offs were through retail, fuel, transport, hospitality and informal trading.
Mayise said all of the 150 lodges in the district were full and people had to look for accommodation as far away as Richards Bay and Eshowe.
He said the fast-growing Umkhosi Womhlanga has proven that the accommodation was not enough, saying some people had to leave Durban on the day of the event.
In response to the growing demand for accommodation, Mayise said four hotels will be built in addition to the Garden Court in Ulundi and various other lodges around the district.
He said two of these hotels would be built in the Ulundi CBD where most of the activities were taking place since Ulundi was a gateway to Nongoma, the Zulu kingdom’s capital.
Delivering his main address on Saturday, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini called for an end to violent gun attacks in the province. The king said he was concerned about the continuing mass killings and called on his subjects to respect one another and observe each other’s integrity.
The king was reacting to a report from Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, who told him about an incident in which seven family members from the Khambule clan, including three children, were gunned down execution-style in Highflats in the South Coast.
The king, who shortened his address due to bad weather, also urged Indian and white men to join the Zulu regiments for cultural exchange programmes, saying this would boost social cohesion and promote peace among the nations.
Earlier, Ntuli called for colonial battle sites to be declared heritage sites to boost tourism in the province.
He referred to the renowned Isandlwana site near Dundee, where the Zulu army made history in January 1879 by defeating heavily armed British troops.
Another important battle in the Zulu kingdom’s history took place at Ulundi, where, in revenge for their defeat at Isandlwana, the British attacked King Cetshwayo‘s Ulundi palace.
The British defeated the Zulu army and burnt down the palace before arresting King Cetshwayo.
Ntuli said the province will preserve all the battle sites and build lodges close to them to attract tourists.
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