Once a jewel of tourism, Mpumalanga lodge is now in ruins [PICS]

Just as the previous owners had warned, the luxurious Cybele Forest Lodge and Health Spa in Mpumalanga, once a jewel of tourism, is now in ruins; a monument of failed land restitution and destroyed jobs.

There is currently nothing happening at the derelict lodge. There is no electricity, as the transformer and cables have been stolen, and the current lessor is using parts of the property’s 12 hectares to grow maize.

Tucked away deep in a timber forest of White River, about 30 minutes’ drive from Mbombela, is what used to be a five-star facility, with 14 suites and cottages used to offer guests, mainly international tourists, sheer luxury and comfort.

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The suites came with exclusive mini bars, heated towel rails, satellite TV, king-size beds, en suite bathrooms, with outside showers in some of the rooms, underfloor heating and fireplaces.

Six of the suites cost about R4 000 a night and boasted private gardens and splash pools, with a view of the mountains. But all this came crashing down on 17 November 2013, when the last guest checked out and the facility was left to the Manzamhlophe community.

Land claim

The land on which the lodge was built was the subject of a land claim by the community, which was found to be valid by the land claims commission in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act.

At that time, tourism figures at the lodge topped 2 500 between January and December but, afterwards, the lodge was not only abandoned, but stripped of its electrical fittings, wall furniture was either ripped out or smashed and doors are barely hanging on hinges.

Other than plush accommodation for 36 people, the lodge offered spa treatments, a gym, bicycle rides to the waterfall, picnic spots, horse riding, functions accommodating 50 people and tours.

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Today, the stables have been turned into maize storage, the suites and cottages have been stripped of air conditioners, geysers and bathroom fittings and the once blue swimming pool is now a stinking brownish pond of reeds and algae.

The thatched roofs of the suites and cottages have been replaced with corrugated iron sheets and some were simply stripped of the roof and left to the mercy of elements. This is exactly what the previous owners had foreseen would be the fate of the lodge that hired 45 people – some employed there for over 20 years.

Handover of lodge

At the time, the previous owners were distressed that the government had failed the community and abandoned them instead of organising a suitable and efficient handover of the lodge, including purchase of all hotel fittings and moveable assets.

They warned in a statement that with no hotel management assistants or funding, the lodge would become irrevocably derelict in a very short space of time.

“We had no money to buy the moveable assets so everything that could be removed was auctioned off and we were left with a shell,” said Happy Mashego, chair of Manzamhlophe Community Property Association.

He said in December 2013, they entered into a lease agreement with an investor who promised to get the lodge up and running and then start paying rent. But three years later, there had been no progress, so the lease was terminated.

The facility was abandoned again in 2016 and a new investor moved in last year. But already there is tension between the community and BLM Creations Management, the company with a 20-year lease to revive and run the lodge.

“They occupied the lodge in April last year, with a promise that it will be operational by July this year, but nothing tangible is happening. Instead they are planting mealies and making bricks,” Mashego said.

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He said the stripping of the lodge started after BLM Creations Management took over and accused the firm of having no intention of reopening the lodge.

“We have no financial [knowledge] or the skills needed to run the lodge so we depend on potential investors but so far we have just been taken for a ride and the facility is being destroyed,” Mashego added.

Lodge stripped

Paul Mkhonto, partner in BLM Creations, said the plan was to use the eight hectares around the lodge for farming and renovate five units to get the lodge going. He said a priority was to build a perimeter wall for security and access control but the community was making progress impossible.

“They are the ones stripping the lodge. They waited for me to move in and then started stealing fittings so they could blame me,” he said.

He admitted to having no financial muscle to renovate or operate the lodge, saying they were looking for investors themselves. He said since there was no economic activity taking place, they were currently cultivating maize on the open field near what used to be the lodge’s main reception area.

Most land claim hotels have failed

A study done by the national department of tourism in 2014 revealed that “tourism activities at Cybele Forest Lodge are not sustainable post land settlement”.

It stated: “This can be attributed to the fact there was no proper handover of the lodge, forest and other tourism activities by previous owners… As a result, this led to unemployment, discontinuation of tourism activities due to lack of management skills and loss of tourism clientele.

“Other factors such as the disconnection of electricity and telecommunication systems also contributed to the claim being unsustainable post settlement. The process of reconnecting these systems was reported to be slow and complex, which essentially impacted on any attempts to revive the business.”

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The study analysed 17 previously thriving tourist destinations which were handed over to communities as part of land claims, noting the majority of them failed.

“It seems conflicts are inevitable in the settlement of land claims and after,” the department said. It concluded this showed tourism activities “are to a large extent not sustainable after land claims settlements. There is a need for coordinated efforts by various sector departments to assist beneficiaries with support packages after land claims settlement.”

– siphom@citizen.co.za