TOURISM & ECONOMIC GROWTH
Club Med reports that internationally, around 86 % of its purchases of goods and materials are sourced from suppliers within the country in which their resorts operate. Yet“ in the country” and“ in the community” are two very different measures, particularly in a developing nation. Club Med South Africa says the resort’ s local supplier and SMME expenditure would still need to be confirmed, pointing instead to the demand created across food and beverage, logistics, transport, maintenance, tourism experiences and other services. So the opportunities are real, but without a rand value, it is still difficult to gauge how much of the resort economy is staying within KwaDukuza and the surrounding communities.
What about a skills pipeline? According to Club Med South Africa Beach & Safari, the resort provides approximately 800 permanent direct jobs, with a further 1 500 indirect jobs across the wider supply chain and supporting industries. Construction employment, they say, peaked at 1 710 people on site daily. Those are substantial numbers, but do they pertain to local employment?
A November 2025 press release by Collins Residential stated that 90 % of the new resort workforce was being recruited from KZN, while Club Med stated a“ substantial number” has been drawn locally, and within 10km of the development.
Is procurement the answer? A five-star international resort needs consistency, volume, certification and a reliable supply chain. Unless local supplier development is deliberately set up, small businesses in the area might not immediately have the capacity to meet those requirements, meaning contracts can easily flow to established national suppliers. Still, there are early signs of local participation. Cobus Oelofse, CEO of the iLembe Chamber points to Scoop Hand-Made Ice Cream and IPSS as examples of SA businesses already benefiting from the development. But the big question is scale.
Recruitment, they say, was structured around a local Stakeholder Forum established at the start of the project, involving ward councillors, traditional leadership and affected business entities to support fair and transparent recruitment. Sifiso Zulu from KwaDukuza Municipality confirmed that recruitment initially focused on communities closest to the development before being expanded to across the wider municipality.
Employment numbers tell only half the story: there ' s a difference between a payroll and a skills pipeline. Club Med points to the NukaKamma Training Programme, which trained 120 people from surrounding communities in hospitality services, some taken abroad for an immersive Club Med experience ahead of opening. Many participants were also taken abroad for an immersive Club Med experience ahead of the KZN resort opening. Founded in 2022 by French entrepreneur Laurence Armand, NukaKamma
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