Durban - The DA has lamented the condition of the Durban beachfront as the iconic Funworld closed its doors at the weekend.
In a combined statement Haseena Ismail, DA deputy spokesperson on tourism and Heinz de Boer, DA KZN spokesperson on economic development, tourism and environmental affairs and Sakhile Mngadi DA eThekwini caucus whip: economic development and planning, said the party was concerned about the state of tourism in the city.
They said they had conducted oversight visits which had revealed the desperate situation facing Durban’s international reputation as a tourism hot spot.
“This as the iconic Fun World closed shop yesterday after 75 years of beach entertainment. Dilapidated beach facilities, unusable municipal public paddling pools and a general decline were also noted by the DA during an inspection of the Golden Mile region held yesterday. Despite the day being a public holiday there was hardly anyone to be seen.”
The statement added that the closure of Funworld was a huge loss to the tourism industry.
“The closure of Fun World and a lack of concrete plans, budgets and formal time frames to redevelop the area can only be described as one of the most significant and catastrophic losses to the tourism sector in decades.”
Mngadi said he had engaged extensively with local business owners and the city regarding this decline.
He said the DA would now be directing probing questions to both Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille and KZN Economic Development and Tourism MEC, Siboniso Duma in this regard.
The eThekwini Municipality has been approached for comment.