BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE – With two days left to the 17th edition of the MTN Bushfire Festival, Durban Tourism will give local stakeholders a chance to ride on the famous Ricksha bus, as they tour Mbabane and Manzini on Friday.
The MTN Bushfire kicks off from Friday until Sunday. It will be held at Malandelas in Malkerns.
This was confirmed by Marketing Solutions CEO Sakhile Mabuza, who is working with South Africa’s Durban Tourism, in partnership with the Eswatini Tourism Authority and East3Route.
A Ricksha bus is used for sight-seeing as it offers a convenient hop-on, hop-off open-top bus service for scenic overviews of any place.
The bus activation will kick off at 9am at the Hilton Garden Inn and proceed to Mbabane City Centre, where the different stakeholders will meet and greet Mbabane Municipality officials, then head to Ezulwini Municipality. According to Mabuza, the Ricksha bus will be escorted by Eswatini Bikers, and there will be different DJs who will entertain the guests on the bus.
When asked if the public could also be part of the tour, Mabuza said, “The tour is for stakeholders only. However, the public will be allowed during stops to board the bus for a few minutes and take pictures only. After the Manzini stop, we will then head to The Exchange Shisanyama for lunch, then head to House on Fire around 3:30pm, just in time for the opening of the first day of the festival.”
Mabuza also shared with this publication that they will be entertaining on the bus with different DJs as well as MC Sikhanyiso Mabuza.
On day two, the Ricksha bus will depart at 9am from Dalrich, and then proceed to Ngwenya Glass, and Hawane Resort. On day three, they will be on site at the festival from 10am to 6pm. It is worth mentioning that Durban Tourism will have a stand at the MTN Bushfire Festival, where they will be offering different prices to give way and provide information about the KwaZulu Natal.
