Zulu Farmers Protest Against Planned Leisure Destination “Amazulu World”

The Ruwaad Holding, an enterprise of the Dubai 9 Group, is planning a gigantic leisure destination in South Africa for around five billion US dollars. The massive complex is to be constructed on a coastal site with 16,500 hectares in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. According to Ruwaad, this is not only to be Africa’s largest leisure destination, but also the biggest project ever to be undertaken in Africa. It will, however, take 25 years until it is completely finished. Based on the well-known pattern from Dubai, a theme park, spa resort, five-star hotel, huge shopping mall and golf courses are all planned. Concrete resistance to the plans became clear in December when around 3,000 Zulu farmers barricaded the Durban/Richards Bay highway with burning tyres in demonstration against the planned leisure destination. The long-established farmers fear that they will be driven away from their ancestral land with their families and employees. (eap)