Nguni Trails

The Karkloof Country Club are very proud of the partnership with Nguni Trails.  All the money we spend on Trail Construction and Maintenance is with our partners, Nguni Trails, and we look forward to supporting this business as it grows and empowers the people that work for Nguni Trails.

History

A much-talked about dream in the making for several years, Nguni Trails (Pty) Ltd officially put “rake-to-trail” in late June of 2019 under the leadership of Mr Jabulani Mthalane. Nguni Trails is a small black-owned business that  has come about through the “Adventure Tourism Incubator” or ATI, which is a pilot project aimed at creating an effective model for skills and enterprise development, while lifting the standards of the Karkloof and Howick trail networks.

Partners

Recognising the opportunities that exist to create great trails and empower communities, the N3 Gateway Tourism Association NPC and Sappi Southern Africa Limited (through the Sappi Trails Programme) and the Karkloof Country Club have partnered to develop the Karkloof Adventure Tourism Incubator (Karkloof ATI). The ATI has been funded by the Industrial Development Corporation and Sappi Southern Africa Limited.

Hattons Cycles Pietermaritzburg, Stihl, Fox South Africa and Leatt have generously provided support through product sponsorship.  Nguni Trails proudly utilises the high-quality equipment and cycling products to perform their jobs at the highest level, with cycling of the trail network built into their weekly work plans.

People

The Nguni Trails team comprises Jabulani Mthalane (47), a KZN Midlands local with a warm energy, strong leadership style and 20+ years of experience in farm and garden management services, and Phumlani Radebe (24) of the Karkloof, who first cut his trail building teeth working with Hylton Turvey Trails, and then with the Karkloof Trails Club.

Mentorship

Nguni Trails is fortunate to have the support of Devlin Fogg (from Bike Life fame) as a mentor and riding buddy. Devlin works closely with Jabulani and Phumlani as he imparts his knowledge of trail design and building and his passion for great riding. The Nguni Trails team is also receiving a full suite of training, ranging from business management through to computer literacy and functional machine operation training.

Work being done

Nguni Trails currently maintain the Karkloof trail network on a daily basis, and have been instrumental in implementing the new signage plan for the 9 marked MTB routes. They have embarked on their first new trail build, the 5km kids and beginners loop which will service a segment of the market previously under-catered for.