Operator sought to manage battlefields lodge

A PRIVATE operator is being sought to run a R3,2m tourist lodge, which is to be built at the site of one of KwaZulu Natal’s most historic and fateful battles*. KwaGqokli Battlefield Lodge is a first step in unlocking the potential of the eMakhosini/Ophate Heritage Park, which lies between Ulundi and Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve. The lodge will have as its core a colonial era farmhouse once occupied by the renowned conservationist, Nick Steele, and 12 two-bed units will be built in a similar style, looking out over the Umfolozi River. The Heritage Park consists of 26 000 hectares scenic hill country which was the cradle of the Zulu nation. The eMakhosini (Valley of the Kings) contains the graves of at least seven early Zulu kings. A memorial in bronze and aluminium – the Spirit of eMakhosini – was unveiled there in April by King Goodwill Zwelithini and Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Minister of Home Affairs and traditional Prime Minister to the King. Ophate is an established game reserve. The eMakhosini has been stocked with giraffe and antelope, as well as traditional nguni cattle. The Heritage Park is being jointly managed by Amafa/Heritage KZN (the provincial heritage agency) and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (provincial conservation agency). The lodge is to be funded by the Kathleen Hastie Charitable Trust, through the Wildlands Conservation Trust; by Tourism KwaZulu Natal; and by Amafa/Heritage KZN. The development company will be 51% owned by Amafa/Heritage KZN, the rest of the holding being distributed between two traditional authorities, the King’s Cultural Development Trust and certain entrepreneurs in the area. *The Battle of KwaGqokli was where Shaka defeated the Ndwandwe people early in the 19th century, establishing the primacy of the Zulu clan and sending waves of Nguni conquest and settlement across Southern Africa, into present-day Gauteng, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique. (Adéle Mackenzie)