The Dundee July Legacy Project – launched last weekend at the Dundee Race Track – highlights the importance of tourism to KwaZulu Natal’s revival after COVID.
The project brought public- and private-sector stakeholders together to realise the development potential of the province’s industries, including infrastructure improvements, training, tourism and manufacturing.
“We are one province, having one plan to build one future. With this investment, government is bringing together all like-minded people to plan and deliver services for our people,” said MEC of Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation, Hlangiwe Mavimbela.
As a partner in the project, Tourism KZN has prioritised the tourism industry as one that offers opportunities for the business sector.
Following the launch event, media were hosted on a guided tour of Talana Museum, a visit to the Battlefields Route and a sunset cruise at Spioenkop Dam.
Talana Museum’s 23 buildings are dedicated to a diversity of subjects including war, agriculture, mining, industry and domestic life.
The farm, bought in 1982 for the development of a museum, includes the home and farmstead of one of the town’s founders, the site of the first coal-mining activity in this area, and a portion of the Talana battlefield.
The Battlefields Region is where many historic battles took place, such as Isandlwana, Spioenkop and Rorke’s Drift, where the British fought the Boers and the Zulus over a hundred years ago.
Within easy driving distance there are numerous wildlife, game and nature parks, as well as Zulu culture and heritage sites, Bushman paintings and the remains of Iron-Age settlements.
The tour ended with a visit to the Spioenkop Dam Nature Reserve near Ladysmith. A popular weekend water-sport destination, the reserve also offers game viewing.
