uMgungundlovu Overview

The uMgungundlovu District, which adjoins the eThekwini Metro, with the Country’s busiest port, has as its spine, the N3 Corridor, the Country’s busiest Corridor. Home to a million people, half of whom reside in the Provincial Capital, Pietermaritzburg, the District is identified by its agricultural potential, sporting events, excellent schools, manufacturing and logistics facilities, a unique combination of diverse opportunities for economic growth.

The N3 corridor is South Africa’s busiest long-distance highway and is registered as the National Strategic Infrastructure Project – SIP 2, with the intention of strengthening the logistics and transport corridors between the major industrial hubs in the country. The Durban–Gauteng corridor, by far the most important economic corridor in the country, is expecting massive increases in freight volumes. It is estimated that within 20 years, the amount of freight will double from the current 4 200 daily. This will reflect an increase of 152% in tons transported, from 762 tons p.a. in 2011 to 1.93 billion tons in 2041. The resultant congestion and unreliability have negative implications.

Beyond the freight volumes, tourists travelling from Gauteng to Durban, constitute 49% of the number of visitors to the city, this translates into 700 000 visitors a year, most of whom drive through the N3 Corridor of our District. The need for expansion of industrial, commercial, and retail space outside of the eThekwini Metro is evident from the congestion and lack of serviced, flat and accessible land within the Metro. The area best positioned for attracting this investment is the Camperdown / Umlaas Road portion of the N3. However, the absence of a water treatment facility has severely limited the amount of investment to the area. Over and above, that is the fact that the current SDF does not allow for non-agricultural development, meaning that investors have met with real challenges in acquiring suitable land.

In terms of the tourism potential of the district, the area has numerous and diverse offerings, however in terms of the industry growth, the province, and by extrapolation, the district, has seen a reduction of international tourists in 2013 of 847 000 down to 761 000 in 2017, and the same trend is true for the domestic tourists with 7.1 million trips in 2013 reducing down to 3.1 Million in 2017. These trends are a cause for concern and the Agency identifies this as a potential area for transformation and growth. Having said that, the occupancy rates appear to have returned to pre-covid figures, however the majority of tourist are now local, which indicates the global trend of a reduction in international travel and an increase in domestic travel.

With large and reliable rivers, good soils and warm summers, the district is one of the Country’s bread baskets, sustaining the vibrant sectors of vegetables, dairy, forestry, pork, crops, beef, and poultry and while many strong commercial enterprises exist, the levels of production on State owned and Community owned lands is something requiring attention. Of the 57 farms acquired by the State for Land Reform in Mpofana for example, only 2 were recorded as working, with the others in a state of disrepair and non-production, resulting in a number of the farm beneficiaries leaving the farms in search of employment.

While 500 000 households are involved in agricultural activities, new and innovative approaches to agriculture are still required to assist small-scale and land reform beneficiary farmers in maximizing the benefits they may derive from having access to natural resources that may well sustain them. An overarching theme underpinning the district is the unemployment rate of 29%, the HIV /Aids infection rate of 42% and the fact that the largest group of our population are between the ages of 20 – 24 (11.2%) with the second largest group being between 0-4 (10.2%).

Despite the above, the district with all of its natural resources and location on the Country’s primary artery has the potential to grow and sustain its youth, the key to this however is the creation of a stronger investment destination, the implementation of innovative approaches to agriculture and a review of the tourism potential, all of which have informed the decision-making process towards project identification by the Agency.