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Within the Zululand District, a network of roads, which provide access to most of the rural
settlements, supplement these roads. The most important railway is known as the 'coal line'.
It passes through Zululand carrying coal from the Mpurnalanga mines to Richards Bay
(Robinson and Associates, 1999). This is a highly specialized line and rail system, which
carries 200 trucks, dedicated coal trains (23/day in 1999), which do not stop at stations within
Zululand except to change crews. About 70 million tons of coal was transported along this
line in 2000. Significantly, these trains return empty, as there is little bulk demand for goods
in the Kwazulu-NataI and Mpumalanga hinterlands.
In view of the underutilisation of the returned empty train back to Gauteng through Ulundi,
this study attempts to investigate the possibility of transporting locally produced goods that
can benefit from the backhaul, the empty returning trains towards the economic hub of South
Africa, that is to Gauteng. The approach which this study adopts is structured to facilitate
Ulundi's community economic development and retain as well as expand existing businesses.
Although most tourists to the Zululand area currently use Richards Bay airport, the Ulundi
airport used to have numerous non-scheduled flights associated with the provincial
government, tourism and business. Vv'hen the P700 road linking Ulundi to Umfolozi Game
Reserve would have been tarred, there might be a possibility of direct flights from
Johannesburg to Ulundi to cater for tourist traffic. The lOP review document (ZDM)
assessed the spare capacity of Ulundi Airport, and identified possibilities for its expansion.
Currently, the Zululand District Municipality has been given an operational mandate by the
Province to run the Ulundi airport. With the declaration of the Spirit of Emakhosini Opathe
as a heritage site, more local and international tourists are likely to use the airport to the
places ofinterest around Ulundi (IDP-Zululand District Municipality. 2006).
5.3 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Until the early 1990s, Zululand's economic base depended heavily on coal mining. supponed
by agriculrure, transport, trade and government services. Formal economic activity was
strongly concentrated in the then Vryheid magisterial district, from which no less than 73% of
the gross geographical product [GGP] of Zululand was generated. Administrative and
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