Picture: The fire engulfed Cabanas Hotel in Sun City Resort/Screengrab
By OBAKENG MAJE
The sporadic fires targeting critical infrastructure within the North West continue to grow. This comes after the fire gutted Sun City’s Cabanas Hotel and Manyane Resort near Rustenburg on 16 September 2023.
According to the Sun City General Manager, Brett Hoppe the fire broke out in the kitchen at around 2:30pm.
“A fire broke out in the Cabanas Hotel kitchen at about 2.30pm on Saturday afternoon. The staff noticed a small fire which they extinguished, but it had already spread through the extraction ventilation to the reception area,” he said.
In a separate incident, the North West MEC for Department of Economic Development Environment Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT), Virginia Tlhapi said Manyane Resort also suffered the same fate of the fire outbreak.
“There were no injuries reported in the two incidents and DEDECT as a custodian of tourism in the province, is working closely with the management of Cabanas Hotel and Manyane Resort to establish the root cause of the fire outbreak.
“These unfortunate incidents happened during the Tourism Month when the North West province is preparing itself to host the World Tourism Day from 26-27th of September 2023. It is equally important to indicate that, the fire outbreak in Sun City happened immediately after the North West Government held a successful Premiers Investor Dinner,” she said.
Tlhapi further said the importance of the tourism sector in the economy of the province cannot be overemphasised as such. She added that they are working hand in glove with the management of Sun City and Manyane Resort to try and normalize the situation.
“The Manyane Resort is currently closed until further notice. However, the Park Mahala Week Programme, which started from 10-17 September 2023 is continuing in other parks of the province,” said Tlhapi.
The Guardian 