Unemployed residents lingering in the streets of Ha-Mutele village in the Mutale Local Municipality may be soon be a thing of the past.

This comes after the Vhembe District Municipality injected R30 million for construction of an eco-tourism project in the area, called Awelani. The project, which is about to be handed to the community, has turned the previously disadvantaged Mutele village in to a centre of attraction for tourists.

Situated next to the Pafuri Gate of the Kruger National Park, Awelani is a Venda name meaning “to get rest”. The project, which is now complete, according to the local economic development officer for the Vhembe District Municipality, Mukundi Mushaphi, will be handed to the Mutele Development Trust after completion.

Mushaphi added that the project had already employed 250 temporary workers and seeks to create more than 500 permanent jobs for the unemployed Mutele residents. “The construction of the Awelani eco-tourism project started in 2007, with a budget of R30 million. The main objective of the project is to create employment opportunities for the local people, to entertain and to accommodate tourists moving to and from the Kruger National Park,” he said.

He said that the park would be able to create jobs, which include security guards, cleaning staff, game rangers, maintenance workers, waitresses and other services.
The park is the first of its kind in the whole of the Vhembe District and it will be a world-class type tourist attraction. Awelani is comprised of 12 chalets, an administration block, a conference hall, swimming pools, a restaurant, a ladies bar and a curio shop.
The park has several natural features like caves, hills, potholes, gorges and steep slopes which supplement the beauty of the park. The area of the park measures ,1 727,639 hectares, which offers plenty of grazing space for wild animals.
“A cultural village will also be established in the park, where different types of cultural dances will be performed. Various types of cultural paintings, sculptures and many other types of art creations will be sold at the village, which will be a boost for the local people,” said Mushaphi.

A community member and a chairperson for the Awelani Eco-Tourism, Albert Ramufhi, said the community appreciated the efforts shown by the district municipality and the role it played in creating jobs for the local people through the construction of the eco-tourism center. “It is a great honour for us, the disadvantaged community which was abandoned, to be given this kind of opportunity in life. The municipality has done us proud by establishing a project which is intending to create jobs for the destitute villagers,” he said.