Sizwe Sama Yende's article reads: "The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) is going ahead with a R475 million skywalk at the Blyde River Canyon, despite a legal challenge by a tourism innovator and entrepreneur who claims it is his intellectual property.
The Blyde River Skywalk project is Campbell Scott’s brainchild.
Scott is the co-founder of another tourism project, the R40 million Graskop Lift, which is a viewing lift that travels 51m down the Graskop Gorge offering tourists a breathtaking view of the gorge and waterfalls."
It is intended to be a cantilevered glass walkway that protrudes 12m from a cliff and hovers in the air. Tourists will see 700m below their feet while also getting a 360° view of the world’s third-largest river canyon.
It is modelled on the A-shaped Chongqing skywalk in China and the horseshoe-shaped Arizona Grand Canyon Skywalk.
Scott’s company, Skyway Trails, pitched the Blyde River Skywalk concept to the MTPA in 2009. It was estimated then that it would cost about R84 million to construct. However, the MTPA dropped Scott along the way and engaged other developers.
Scott has approached the Mbombela High Court to protect his copyright.
MTPA spokesperson Kholofelo Nkambule said that the tender was awarded to Mapulana Canyon to invest, design, operate and manage the project. The project will be transferred to the land-owning community after a 25-year concession period.
“The MTPA disputes that it stole Campbell Scott’s intellectual property. The court case on this matter is currently pending,” Nkambule said.
However, Scott said that he could prove that MTPA had stolen his idea.
Scott claimed he had developed the concept, identified the project site, appointed an architect, brokered negotiations with land-claiming communities and facilitated funding for a number of prerequisite studies to ensure success of the project, such as an environmental impact assessment and feasibility study.
A delegation including Scott, the MTPA and the Industrial Development Corporation even visited the Grand Canyon Skywalk in the US to take some notes on how best they would implement the project in Mpumalanga.
In his court application, Scott said: “The copyright works are being reproduced and adapted by the first respondent [MTPA] to seek bids for the development of a project in Blyde River Reserve. Should a successful bidder be appointed while the parties are in the process of mediation, the damages incurred by [MTPA] will increase substantially.”
Scott also warned that any development on the project based on his copyrighted works was in danger of being stopped or demolished, causing habitat degradation. Scott says the MTPA should compensate him with R10 million for his concept and work he put in over the years.
The MTPA had promised to look into Scott’s claim for compensation in 2018, according to email correspondence that City Press has seen.
Scott said that his relationship with the MTPA deteriorated due to lack a of commitment by MTPA and failure to clarify land claimants’ ownership on the project." (
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Coordinates are from the Bourke's Luck Potholes Visitor center and photos from the Bourke's Luck Potholes.