Ntambanana Local Municipality
The biggest proportion of land within Ntambanana municipal area is owned by the Tribal Authorities. Obuka Tribal Authority covers the largest proportion of this land followed by Somopho North, Obizo, Mambuka and Somopho south. Large proportions of land in the surrounding areas of Heatonville are owned by private landowners. Ntambanana State Land occurs in the surrounding areas of Buchanana village and the area further north.
Infrastructural provision in the Ntambanana area has historically been provided in a haphazard and unstructured manner. As a consequence
Ntambanana Municipality is one of the municipalities that falls under Project Consolidate, which is a national imperative that finds innovative ways to improve and strengthen Local Government service delivery. Its aim is to ensure a more proficient use of resources derived from nationally raised revenue, to benefit the indigent and to implement government policy on the provision of basic services.
The overall objective in the provision of infrastructure is in addressing the backlogs to provide for balanced growth in an equitable manner with the emphasis being on accessibility to basic services which need to be provided in a sustainable and affordable manner to the local communities.
Economy
There are a number of rural nodes which serve as service centres notably Buchanana, Mambuka, and Heatonville, but these centres need to be expanded in terms of social, economical and educational service delivery, together with the upgrading of the physical infrastructure, in order to create viable and vibrant centres which will create work opportunities, economic opportunities, housing, and the like.
Agriculture
Sugar cane is the most important agricultural product, which is produced by commercial and small-scale rural farmers.
Tourism
The tourism sector is being promoted as a leading sector in KwaZulu-Natal and certainly seems to be an important potential generator of economic growth in the Ntambanana municipal area. The Ntambanana municipal area is blessed with some fine tourism sites. There is a world-class luxury game reserve in the area, Thula-Thula, which came under the international spotlight in 2004 when its developer Lawrence Anthony travelled to Iraq to rescue the animals in the Baghdad Zoo.
Planning is underway, spearheaded by uThungulu, to link Ntambanana with the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi game reserve to the north in order to capitalise on its tourism potential. If this development materialises, there could be significant foreign aid injected into the area, which would give impetus to improving the quality of life of the impoverished rural communities.
Local Economic Development
There is great potential for the development of its agricultural and tourism sectors.
A number of strategies have been identified to promote local economic development. These include:
- Ensure public participation in development processes as well as capacity building support of small businesses by the provision of access and opportunities for small farmers and entrepreneurs,
- Generation of employment opportunities and eradication of poverty facilitate implementation of market gardening and subsistence agriculture;
- Develop community centres to provide training and education.
The municipality has a number of projects that are run by women and the youth. Included in these projects are block making, poultry farming and ceramic products. They are all registered into co-operatives and have been referred to Ithala for funding.
