Ditike Travel and Tourism tenants say they are presently losing business because of the bad state of the buildings they leased from the Limpopo Economic Development Enterprise (LimDev). They say their plea to have the buildings renovated at Muledane, near Thohoyandou, have fallen on deaf ears since 1999.

A visit by Mirror saw broken doors, thatched roofs in a state of falling apart, and decorative wood fully damaged by termites. The old building needs paint and the lapa is almost damaged beyond recognition. The thatched roof is leaking and when it rains, clients are forced to cancel their functions. The fence is also on the brink of falling down while some of the decorative sculptures are broken.

The Manager of Ditike Travel and Tourism, Mr Martin Mulaudzi, say they have done all they could to have the buildings renovated, but in vain. “People have cancelled weddings, parties and other functions, due to the bad state of the buildings we are occupying. We have made several requests for renovations but nothing has been done although we are paying them on a monthly basis. We have refunded most of our customers who inspected the place and decided to go somewhere else because of the damaged facilities.”

Ditike Travel and Tourism’s first lease of the site started in 1999. Their second lease started from 2004 and it will end in 2009.

Mulaudzi say they only want the property renovated as LimDev keeps on promising that they will fix the problems. “We have nothing against them. We only need them to stick to their promises because the bad state of the property has a negative impact on our business. This place was a nice picnic site at first, but it has been turned into a white elephant because some people are not doing their jobs properly…”

Mirror called Tom Moloto, LimDev’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), to find out if he was aware of the problem at Ditike. He said he would personally investigate the matter but he advised Ditike Travel and Tourism to address a letter of complain to his office.