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sub-region has no budget, let alone an office, directly responsible for the issues and affairs of
that portfolio. The Committee Tourism Association (CTA) after being defunct for some time,
has been reconvened in the local municipality. There is nothing along the main road that
tourists use to attract them to stop in Ulundi.
Respondents were asked to indicate their knowledge regarding the existence ofmountains and
rivers in the study area. Table 6.10 describes the outcome of this knowledge. These
mountains and rivers are geomorphological features that can play a pivotal role in improving
the quality of life, in terms of land use necessities. Apart from being a source of river water
to the communities, their scenic attraction creates an ecotourism potential.
Table 6.10: Knowledge oftbe tourism potential ofmountains and rivers of urban Ulundi
in 2007
Knowledge Frequency
I I Cumulative
Percentage
percentage
I
Yes 133 48.2 II 48.2
!
No 137 49.6
97.8 I
,
,
N/A I 6 I 2.2 ,
!
100
!
Total i 276 100
Although the mountains in the study area continue to be sources of water to the local rivers,
their implicit economic and tourism potentials would depend on committed and proactive
local leadership in promoting tourism especially from the Ulundi Local Municipality. This
approach is in consonance with the pro-growth school ofthought which encourages the use of
local resources to advance local economic development.
The District Municipality indicated that major physical landscape attributes like the game
reserves and the battlefields in Ulundi and beyond in the ZDM are operated and managed by
trained and experienced professional conservationists who work in partnership with the local
municipalities, the District Municipality and the immediate tribal authorities to common
course, purpose and understanding of sustainable development. However. little impacts are
felt in Ulundi in terms oflocal economic spin-offs or improved scenic attributes.
147
I
I