Hon Speaker, the Jozini Tiger Lodge, located in Jozini, under the UMkhanyakude District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, is one of the success stories of public-private partnership in South Africa. The project was built from January 2008 on and was completed in December 2009, just in time for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
The project was funded by the National Empowerment Fund. A stake of 31% is owned by the community and the private investors own 69%. The business has created at least 75 direct permanent jobs in this rural community. The project has proved to be very sustainable, recording 17 321 guests in the first year of operation, 24 301 guests in the second year, and 27 658 by the first quarter of 2013. The facility saw a revenue increase of 117% in 2012. In general, facilities of this kind take an average of three years to break even, but this facility reached the break-even point within the first six months of its operation.
The key to its success is that all key stakeholders have been hands-on and had a keen and vested interest in the long-term growth and sustainability ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]