Dressed in colourful casuals, you might have thought the relaxed gathering sprawled across the lawn at The Goatshed on Thursday January 30 were holidaymakers. They were in fact the hard-working businesspeople, officials and tourism professionals who made the holidays for the thousands of locals and visitors to Kenton-on-Sea and Bushmans River Mouth during the festive season.
At the end of a swelteringly hot afternoon, ‘Sunshine Coast’ proved to be more than just a brand as chairperson of the Kenton Boesmans Chamber of Business & Tourism Justin Wilmot shared the results of a season survey among members, residents and visitors.
Most retails and hospitality businesses had experienced a better season than before – many saying it was their best ever. Many factors contributed to this, and were reflected in the survey results.
The municipality’s community protection services directorate was acknowledged with a certificate for a (mostly) thumbs up from respondents for neat and clean villages, clean beaches and efficient refuse collection.
75% of the business respondents said that they had a season which was better or the best ever. Accommodation had been fully booked for both the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.
“Everything is always better without load shedding, and we had beautiful weather and warm water,” Wilmot said.
Tops reasons for a good season, according to the 67 survey respondents, were:
- A wide selection of events (88%)
- “Fantastic” entertainment (85%)
- Feeling safe with low crime (83%)
- Neat and clean villages (82%)
- Local business and eateries provided great service (69%)
The local Tourism office received praise for advertising events well. Other positive aspects mentioned by survey respondents included the area’s rivers and the availability of game viewing by boat; a “great vibe”, the Kenton Seagull Regatta, The Backyard, the revamped Volo with their Padel courts, the new Jerry’s, and Horns Up.
The biggest challenges for residents and visitors alike were water and parking.
The 67 respondents had bought more than 750 000 lit of water, including for rental homes, Wilmot said.
“The Chamber, BRRAG, and KOSRA are actively engaging with Ndlambe [regarding the water supply] and they have given us certain deadlines,” Wilmot said.
The situation was complex.
“We have a dysfunctional plant set in the middle of SANPARKS, extracting water from the river (including sand, organisms, etc) and pumping the brine back into the estuary. This is hardly ideal,” Wilmot said.
Amatola Water’s contract had been terminated last year.
“They run the plant at a loss, they ran out of budget in September, and are now forced to run the plant until the government transfers the plant to Ndlambe. Ndlambe need to find someone willing to take on the plant as is, and the costs of upgrading the plant are huge. So, there is no quick fix,” Wilmot said.
Wilmot said the community needed to be able to produce enough water to be able to make it through the season. Because reverse osmosis-produced water was very expensive to produce, the plant had to run at capacity.
“It’s pointless putting up a 10 ML plant, as it will run at 40% capacity all year around, increasing the cost of water.”
The solution, Wilmot said, was for residents and businesses to upgrade their storage, find a local source (boreholes) that could supplement the current supply, and work with Ndlambe to optimise what they have.
“We, as businesses, need to become less reliant on the municipal supply, set up delivery arrangements in advance, increase our storage, and manage our water,” he said. “This has been done very successfully by most businesses.”
Other season concerns prioritised by the survey respondents were parking, the R72 Intersection and (Eskom direct-supplied] electricity. Fireworks, dog poo and dogs off leash, poor cellphone signal, and policing of boats were some of the other concerns.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, February 6 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
