The Wolwekloof Resort, located near Ceres in the Witzenberg Municipality, holds a unique place in South Africa's history as one of the few facilities accessible to people of colour during the apartheid era. After being closed to the public in recent years, CapeNature took over management of the resort in 2019, with the goal of transforming it into a thriving tourism facility.
Minister de Lille highlighted the importance of tourism in the country's economy, emphasising the need for collaboration to grow the sector. She stated, "Tourism is a key sector in our economy, injecting billions into the economy each year and providing much-needed jobs for our people."
The Wolwekloof Resort project is part of the Department's funded provincial state-owned assets maintenance programme. The maintenance work, completed earlier this year, included upgrades to pools, installation of a new pool slide, new fencing, construction of braai areas, and walkway construction.
Dr Razeena Omar, CEO of CapeNature, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, stating: "Wolwekloof is one of five tourism projects under the NDT CapeNature partnership. It is collaborations like this that help to boost the Western Cape tourism economy, offering holidaymakers even more travel choices."
Minister de Lille provided an update on South Africa's tourism sector, indicating positive signs of recovery with over 6.8 million tourists welcomed in the first 10 months of the year. Despite the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, CapeNature demonstrated impressive growth in revenue and visitor numbers during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years.
The Wolwekloof Resort project is still in phase one, with CapeNature planning additional work on water and electricity infrastructure in the next three phases. The vision is to reinstitute the site for recreational and leisure purposes with modern amenities.
Minister de Lille concluded by urging all partners to inject urgency into the remaining phases of the project, aiming for a public opening of the resort in the spring of 2024. She thanked the partners for their contributions and emphasised the importance of continued collaboration to fulfil the tourism sector's full potential.
