‘Table Mountain is only for the rich’

Published Apr 21, 2015

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Cape Town - Ntsiki Mathamba was born in Cape Town in 1961 and educated at schools scattered throughout the city’s townships.

 But unlike the thousands of international tourists who flock to the city during the summer months, she cannot tell you what Cape Town looks like from Table Mountain’s flat top, or describe the cramped conditions of Nelson Mandela’s cell on Robben Island.

She has never set foot on Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden’s rolling green lawns or passed through the gates of Cape Point.

Despite living here for 54 years, these attractions, the landmarks that power the city’s booming tourism industry, have always seemed tucked away, walled off by the financial constraints of living on a shoestring budget.

“I can’t afford it, and I will never be able to afford it,” she said.

Last Saturday, Table Mountain National Parks finished off its final round of public information sessions in the metro. Residents were asked for their thoughts on management of the park over the next 10 years. But it was also a chance to look at how to get more local visitors through its gates.

It’s not a new conundrum for local tourism bodies. Three years ago the provincial tourism department was dealing with a rapid decline in domestic visitors to the Cape’s top attractions, which MEC Alan Winde believes they are turning around.

But with fares at Robben Island being increased, and South Africa’s economy still struggling, the Cape Argus asked local residents whether visiting local attractions was still a real option.

For people such as Mathamba, it definitely isn’t.

She almost laughs at the idea of taking a ride on the cableway.

“No, it is too much,” she said, explaining that clambering up the side of the mountain herself at her age is hardly an option.

The single mother shares her home with her three grown-up children and two grandchildren. Most of her money goes towards food and travelling from Mandela Park to Cape Town for work.

“If there’s anything left, we use it to buy clothes.”

Under apartheid she was barred from visiting these sites. Now, “you can go anywhere as long as you have money”.

“Me, I have no money, so I go nowhere.”

Newlands resident Melody Hendriks visits the Cape’s top attractions on an almost monthly basis, but she is also starting to feel discouraged by the price tag. The mother of two, who works for her local residents’ association, said: “What annoys me is we are paying tourist prices for our own attractions.”

Hendriks said as a member of a family of four she was paying a fortune every time they visited the Cape’s “premium locations”.

Now she is finding herself scoping out the city’s freebies, such as Newlands Forest or Fish Hoek beach. Otherwise she is on Groupon snagging deals to visit the lesser-known locales with her daughters Kiera, 9, and Lily, 1.

Zaida Domingo, 32, of Rondebosch said it felt like the Cape’s attractions had become exclusive spots for foreigners.

She said when she travelled with her husband Waseem and daughter Hudaa, 4, to far-flung places such as Kuala Lumpur she was blown away by what was on offer.

“(There they have) free parks and amusements for the kids.”

Belhar mother Tessa Paulsen, 33, said she often took her three children on drives around the Western Cape, “pointing out interesting mountain formations, beaches and we have picnics”.

“It’s cherished family time.”

She said they mainly picked out the places that were free to access and “fortunately there are many of them”.

“The premium places are too costly. The average person literally has to save up and it’s like a mini vacation. The land of our forefathers is now inaccessible to most,” she said.

“It’s not right at all.”

She said with rising fuel prices and gate fees already feeling “exorbitant”, she counts it as a fortunate moment when her father-in-law took them to Cape Point.

“I don’t know if my 2-year-old will get to see it again in her lifetime.”

 

Specials for locals ‘just the ticket’

Despite criticism of the cost of Cape Town’s top attractions, Tourism MEC Alan Winde disagrees with claims that the city’s sights are priced outside the average resident’s means.

“We have worked very hard to increase domestic tourism and our domestic numbers are going up all the time.”

Robben Island Museum spokesman Quinton Mtyala said just under 45 percent of the island’s South African guests were from the province.

This was despite raising the ticket price by R20 to cover the increased operating costs of the island’s ferries.

The fares will increase from R280 for adults to R300. Children under 18 now pay R160.

Mtyala said there was a focus on increasing the number of local visitors, including introducing a fleet of new ferries.

According to Winde the price of Cape Town’s offerings had less to do with the actual cost, but more with the struggling economy which was leaving the average South African with less cash to spare at the end of the month.

“The GDP is suffering, there is more unemployment and our economy is in dire straits. We are having visa problems and that has also had an impact on our economy… People just don’t have the same disposable income they once did.”

Winde said he was against introducing different rates for Capetonians and foreigners because tourists might feel they were being “ripped off”.

Cape Town Tourism chief executive Enver Duminy said chief executives of the city’s major attractions were aware of the need to give locals a chance to experience them.

“The reality is that it costs a lot of money to run some of these operations and prices reflect these costs. Most of the attractions do run specials for locals during the year.”

Table Mountain National Park’s My Green Card makes visits to popular spots a lot more affordable. For R110, residents get 12 entries to any parks in the Cape, including Cape Point, Boulders penguin colony and Silvermine. Cardholders can bring guests but each one counts as one of the 12 entries.

The cableway runs specials such as half-price tickets for students and senior citizens on Fridays, and the sundowner special in summer, and Cape Town residents ride free on their birthday.

Duminy said surveys by the company showed more and more locals were visiting these attractions.

 

The Cape Argus asked Cape Town readers on Facebook what they thought about the prices of the city’s major attractions. Here is what they said:

Kevin Rudolph:“Too expensive. I normally go alone because my family is too big. Wish it can be cheaper so that I can take my whole family.”

Uthmaan Solomons:“Something drastically needs to be done to change the cost involved to visit these places. Table Mountain for one, is only for the rich.”

Magda Laas: “I go up the mountain on my birthday when it is free! I think that is a nice gift.”

Yumnah Ajouhaar:“South Africans should have a discounted price. Attractions are way too expensive, especially for a family of six.”

Ganeefa Adams:“I love Cape Point, used to go a lot there years ago but the price now is simply ridiculous!!!”

Jenny Phillips:“We love to take visitors to show off our beautiful city but for locals it’s just too expensive. For overseas visitors it’s cheap, there should be some kind of concession for the locals.”

Avenia Jonas:“I’m a pensioner and visiting those places is a luxury. Cannot even afford to visit the aquarium at the Waterfront... It’s my country, but sorry, I can’t visit places of interest.”

Mduli Chirwa:“Visiting the said places is good but very expensive. These places in the real sense are not meant for locals but for tourists who have money to spend here in Cape Town. Business operators in these places are mainly targeting tourists not us locals, price wise.”

Sylvia Scholtz:“I am from Atlantis and we are a family of five. I so want to take them to Robben Island, Table Mountain, aquarium, and even the train to Simon’s Town, but it is really expensive for the locals.”

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Kieran Legg, Cape Argus

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