Travel industry members might have fond memories of the Fish River Sun, near Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape.
South Africans and foreign tourists loved the surrounding rolling green hills, the lazy river, the beautiful beaches, the endless fun for the kids, the restaurants and bars, the nightlife and the casino, which brought a certain glitzy glamour to the rural Eastern Cape. It was the vision of legendary hotelier Sol Kerzner that created this thriving holiday resort from nothing, providing hundreds of jobs in an area where there were very few, and bringing to the poor Eastern Cape all the commercial benefits that organically spin off from the existence of such a property.
Around the time Sun International moved the gambling licence to Gqeberha and opened the Boardwalk Casino in that city, the resort became the subject of a protracted land claim, eventually being handed over to the Prudhoe Community Trust by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (which spent four years maintaining the site at an annual cost of over R20 million). The Prudhoe Community Trust then leased it to MahalaX, a digital company that undertook a 49-year lease to maintain the property for the benefit of the Prudhoe Community. MahalaX saw the property as an ideal spot for films and reality TV shows to be created, and was able to generate a new revenue stream doing just that.
Survivor SA season 9 was just one series that was shot at the resort.
After months of harassment and intimidation by gangs of criminals increasingly aggressive and threatening in their demands for money and jobs, MahalaX personnel and the staff of the resort, plus a 40-strong foreign film crew, were chased off the property last weekend by these same criminals.
Then, over the weekend, for three whole days, from Friday to Sunday, wholesale looting and destruction of property took place – every single room in the property was broken into. TVs, fridges, bedding, cutlery, computers, projectors and all IT equipment was stolen. A Quantum minibus was stripped down to a mere shell. Sources said vehicles with trailers were brought in to carry away the goods.
A Facebook post by Athol Trollip, ActionSA Eastern Cape Chairman, shows pics of some of the destruction of the resort.
Daron Mann of HeraldLive interviewed Prudhoe Community Leader, Gladman Tom, who said the fact that the burglary had continued through the weekend, unhindered by any intervention by police, was a reflection of the state of the police force in the area.
Now MahalaX says it has decided to walk away.
The Prudhoe Community Trust is seeking a new investor.
