Evaluating outcomes at Madikwe and Makuleke by Peter John Massyn

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important model for rural communities who wish to use their land and associatedresources to promote economic growth, job creation and a better way of life for theirpeople.The agreement does five important things:! It grants formal ownership to the Makuleke people of a piece of land between theLuvhuvu and Limpopo Rivers from which the people were forcibly removed in 1969during the consolidation of the Gazankulu bantustan. The Makuleke land is ofparticular strategic interest not only for its considerable biodiversity and tourismvalue but also because it forms a pivot for the greater Limpopo transfrontierconservation area.! To do this, it effectively excises some 24000 hectares of land between the two riversfrom the Kruger National Park. This land was then been reclassified andreincorporated into Kruger as a contractual park. Although ownership changeshands, it effectively remains within the same conservation system and is managedaccording to common principles that protect wildlife in the rest of Kruger.! The Makulekes, in return, guarantee to use the land in a way that is compatible withthe protection of wildlife. They will not occupy it or farm or undertake any activitiesthat would undermine the conservation objectives of the park.! The Makulekes have full rights to commercialise their land in the park by enteringinto partnerships with private investors to build game lodges and camps as long asthese are consistent with the wildlife management policies of the SANParks.However the Makulekes are able to undertake a range of commercial anddevelopment activities in their region of the park that are not allowed in a nationalpark.! It sets up a joint management board made up of representatives from the Makulekevillages and the conservation agency that will govern the way in which the wildlife ofthe area is protected. This institution is designed in such a way that SANParksgradually hands over its expertise in these matters to residents of the villages whowill be trained in wildlife management.The return of the land to the Makuleke, coupled with a commitment on their part to retainthe conservation status of the land, has paved the way for an integration of a poor ruralcommunity into the mainstream of the tourism economy.3.2 Lodge developmentThe land restitution agreement gave title over the land to the Makuleke CommunalProperty Association (CPA). The CPA is the legal vehicle that represents the beneficiaries/20
of the land claim, i.e. the descendants of people who were removed from the Makulekeregion in 1969. And it gave this CPA the right to conduct a commercial planning processindependently of SANParks.Guided by these principles, the CPA commenced with a technical development planningprocess late in 1998. The CPA involved SANParks in the early stages of this process. Thiswas considered necessary to avoid the development of plans that clashed starkly withKNP conservation objectives for the area.The commercial development planning was conducted by a team of external tourism anddevelopment practioners consolidated into a structure called Friends of Makuleke (FoM).Each step of the commercial planning was linked with a community capacity buildingprocess in which all major decisions were workshopped with the Makuleke leadership,who in turn took these decisions to general community meetings for ratification. As in thecase of Madikwe, a strong business orientation was brought to the commercial planningprocess. This was ensured through the involvement of tourism industry experts includingadvisors from the major private lodge operating companies. In this way, the planningprocess was, from the outset, guided by a thorough understanding of the tourism market.The Makuleke commercial development plan that resulted from this process envisages thecreation of several high-value game lodges as joint ventures between the Makuleke CPAand private investors during the first decade of Makuleke ownership. These lodges wouldbe aimed at foreign and domestic tourists in the luxury end of the tourism market and bedesigned to optimise economic benefits to the Makuleke community. The latter wouldinclude land rentals by private lodge partners to the CPA; profits or dividends that theMakuleke people will earn as shareholders in the lodge companies; and quality jobs forMakuleke residents in the lodges. 25A first competitive bid undertaken by the CPA with assistance from FoM, mobilisedinterest from a number of private firms. The CPA elected Matswani Safaris, anexperienced private partner, from this list and finalized a concession contract to developand operate a new 32-bed lodge. The lodge, known as The Outpost, was completed in2002 and is currently operational.3.3 Structural and legal arrangementsThe structural arrangements underpinning the agreement are illustrated in the followingdiagram:25 Makuleke Communal Property Association, 1998a./21
Page 1 and 2: TOURISM ASSETS AND THE MARKET:EVALU
Page 3 and 4: ABSTRACTTourism enterprises based o
Page 5 and 6: These programmes hold great promise
Page 7 and 8: on the expropriated land and began
Page 9 and 10: NWP&TBLandlord45-yearleaseFair rent
Page 11 and 12: isk-bearing commercial intermediari
Page 13 and 14: enefit than Buffalo Ridge to its lo
Page 15 and 16: 2.7 The community-level processFrom
Page 17 and 18: and a high degree of commitment to
Page 19: emains open to question but the par
Page 23 and 24: 3.4 Capital fundingUnlike the Madik
Page 25 and 26: The Wilderness dealDuring 2004, the
Page 27 and 28: 3.9 ConclusionMany of the factors c
Page 29 and 30: This is certainly true in both case
Page 31: North West Parks and Tourism Board

Evaluating outcomes at Madikwe and Makuleke by Peter John Massyn

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