“You are such an all-together community, and everyone is so friendly”, are words that echo through our village almost every day. “Your village is so different to other small communities we’ve visited in South African, why is that?”
In mid-2021, some outsider thugs paid an unwanted visit to our normally tranquil village. Gang recruitment, drugs and untold turmoil were key among their objectives. Sadly, they succeeded.
In a perverse way, it was the very thing we needed. The aftermath of their visit was undeniably terrible. They turned us into a coop of headless chickens. Enough, became enough. We found our heads, and as a community vowed to shoot all our arrows in the same direction. We made a plan. We cemented our commitment to one another. And we rid ourselves of classism, racism, and big egos.
Unofficially, we are a top-10 destination. Not because we live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country – that is our arena – it is our people, collective thinking and tourist-centric ways that qualify us for this accolade. Our blend of inclusiveness and humanness gives us our ‘glue’.
With vision, courage and high ethics, tempered with a sense of reality, we have floated a non-profit company that we all own. It is called STORMS NPC. An acronym of Safety and security, Tourism, Oversight (a.k.a. influencing important authorities) Regulatory (self-regulation in setting world-class tourism standards) and Management Systems. Management and systems are in the hands of six executive Directors and two non-executive Directors. All portfolios are voluntary.
By way of example please check this video out:
