(Photo: Provided)
“It breaks my heart to see how something that my family built from the ground up must now be destroyed.”
This is what Nic Steyn says about the popular Durban Funworld amusement park, with its distinctive red cable cars and colorful amusement rides, which will close after decades.
This amusement park initially started in 1938 as a miniature train ride on Durban’s North Beach. It later expanded into a full-fledged family entertainment along the main beach. Although it has operated under various names over the years, it has been owned and operated by the same family for over 80 years.
However, a fight with the eThekwini municipality, owner of the land on which the theme park has been located for 75 years, has made it impossible to keep the theme park’s wheels rolling.
Steyn, the third-generation owner,’s lease with the municipality expired in 2017 and he has since operated Funworld on a month-to-month basis. This together with economic circumstances – with few customers willing to spend their money on amusement rides – spelled the end for Durban’s Funworld.
Steyn recounts how over the past years he has had to watch sadly as Durban’s jewel, the main beachfront, deteriorates at an alarming rate.
“I don’t want to contribute to the deterioration, but the municipality makes it impossible for me. I have been operating this amusement park for six years on a month-to-month contract at R40 000 per month. It is not profitable and the situation has now become unbearable.”
His father built Durban Funworld to where it is today, says Steyn.
“He opened Funworld 365 days a year and I remember that at the time he wouldn’t close until midnight. Now no soul wants to be on this beach front later than 7pm at night.
“I’ve been working here since I was ten years old and my father kept me busy at Funworld on weekends and holidays with numerous tasks. He always assumed that I would eventually take over from him, and I did.”
(Photo: Provided)
Nic Steyn Sr. died in 2000, after which Steyn jr. kept the company alive for the next 23 years. However, after decades of hard work and capital expenditure, Steyn must now say goodbye to his legacy.
“The park had always been a part of me. I have pictures of me sitting on the fun rides as a baby and it is soul-destroying to see how everything has to be torn apart now.
“I have now come to this point, not because of a lack of effort on my part, but simply because of the lack of interest from the eThekwini municipality.”
He says that for the past 12 years he has been trying to sell the amusement rides and other assets operated by Durban Funworld to a suitable operator.
“My children all have their own businesses and none of them can take over from me, but I still wanted the iconic theme park to live on. I would like to see it improve and grow for the benefit of its staff, its customers and the Durban beachfront as a whole,” says Steyn.
For him, it is especially about the more than 30 permanent employees who are now unable to take care of their families. He tells that he would move on in peace if they could stay at Funworld.
“The real tragedy is that I have workers who have been part of Funworld for decades and some of them know the rides better than I do. I could find peace in my heart if the municipality only wanted to do the right thing, so that these people could stay and keep their jobs. Where are they going now?”
Numerous buyers approached Steyn, but all ran into the same obstacle – none could get a lease for the site from the eThekwini municipality.
Before Steyn’s lease expired, the municipality issued a letter in July 2016 stating that the lease would be extended for a further eight years, but after the new municipal election in August 2016, the agreement was not fulfilled and the premises were then only let out to Steyn on a month-to-month basis.
In December 2020, the municipality passed a full council resolution to purchase all the amusement rides and attractions from Durban Funworld to add to uShaka Marine World’s entertainment offerings. However, it is understood that uShaka did not want to accept the responsibility of managing and operating Durban Funworld.
Steyn offered to continue to operate Durban Funworld if the municipality wanted to buy the amusement rides.
“I was willing to stay on and manage the facilities, train and mentor people, while the business as a whole is put out to tender and a suitable operator is searched for. However, the municipality did not even acknowledge receipt of my letter.
“It has become clear that the municipality does not want to keep the amusement park intact,” says Steyn.
All the amusement rides, attractions and other assets will be auctioned off at an online auction by Dales Brothers from 20 April. After that, the eThekwini municipality will put the land out to tender for the redevelopment of the site.
(Photo: Provided)
“If all my assets are sold, this piece of land will go to waste. The neglected state of the once famous ‘Golden Mile’ is clearly visible. The children’s swimming pools have been empty for three years.
“The deterioration of the beachfront is the result of the way it is managed, and the end of Funworld is also proof of that.”
