Durban — The owner of London On 75 entertainment hub in KwaMashu has vowed to change the township's face through the tourism economy.
The KwaMashu-born Xolani Kevin Mabanga owns the now biggest popular entertainment hub at the township's L section.
Outlining his vision for the place, Mabanga said when he established the business four years ago, he wanted it to be recognised as the premier entertainment venue in KwaZulu-Natal and to be a catalyst for positive change, enriching the KwaMashu location both culturally and economically.
He said he was happy to see signs of things he wanted to achieve being visible, adding that township tourism was improving which has led to job opportunities as more and more people from outside the township visit his venue. He said since the place opened it has created 100 direct and another 100 indirect job opportunities for the local people and through other service providers.
“My dream is to change my township’s face through tourism economic development. By doing that we are boosting township economic growth because my place has created other small businesses that are trading around our vicinity. We have also accommodated salon and car wash owners within our place so if we say we also created indirect job opportunities we mean it,” said Mabanga.
Furthermore, he said the perception that the township is a crime spot was now changing because of his entertainment spot which keeps people busy all the weekends, saying even in the crime statistics released by police every quarter KwaMashu is not among the top crime spots like Inanda and uMlazi.
The four-year-old spot has a complement of 44 full-time staff. To ensure maximum safety for the patrons, Mabanga said he has hired a security company that ensures the safety of patrons and their cars while they enjoy themselves.
He said that alone has created job opportunities for locals who work as car guards. He also announced that the venue will be celebrating its 4th anniversary this month which coincides with the tourism month activities. The venue first opened in September 2020.
The place is still the talk of the town and on various social platforms after it recently hosted a week-long party where it attracted more than 3 000 patrons. However, the event drew criticism from the neighbours who complained of not being able to access their homes because of traffic jams on the main road passing through the venue.
To remedy this situation, Mabanga said he has approached the neighbouring retail shop to provide parking for his patrons and has assured residents that the sound will be under control and will adhere to the licence regulations to close the venue at midnight.
He made an unreserved apology to the residents who were affected by the week-long party where some residents' driveways were blocked by cars belonging to the people that attended his event.
“We became the victim of our success. We were overwhelmed by the big turnout since we expected just about 500 people but we ended up having more than 3 000. So myself and my management team wish to make an unreserved apology to our neighbours who were negatively affected. We also wish to thank them for the support they have given their son,” concludes Mabanga.
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