Ramaphosa hails R2bn Club Med resort as South Africa's biggest hospitality investment since Sun City

President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed the opening of South Africa's first Club Med resort, pointing to the more than R2 billion KwaZulu-Natal development as an example of how large-scale tourism investment can create jobs and opportunities for local businesses.

The Club Med Beach & Safari Resort was officially opened on 17 September, with Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille delivering an address on behalf of Ramaphosa, who was unable to attend the opening. The president said the development represents the largest hospitality investment in South Africa and the broader Southern African Development Community since Sun City opened in the 1970s.

"This mega-development is a vote of confidence in South African enterprise, in the capabilities of our people and in the future of our tourism industry," Ramaphosa said. The development is South African-funded and backed by an investment consortium committed to advancing broad-based black economic empowerment.

Its economic impact extends beyond the construction of the resort: more than 2,300 direct and indirect jobs were created during construction, while the completed development has created 600 permanent direct positions and supports another 1,500 indirect jobs through local suppliers and related industries. The beach resort's workforce is 84 percent South African, while all employees at the Vikela Safari Lodge are from surrounding communities, according to the president's address.

Ramaphosa said the operation will require fresh produce, maintenance, transport and other services, creating potential opportunities for small, micro and medium enterprises, and highlighted local procurement and partnerships with smaller tourism operators as ways of spreading the benefits of the development beyond the resort itself. "That is how tourism investment can contribute to the prosperity of a nation," he said.