Investing

South Africa’s biggest theme park losing millions every year

Kirsten Minnaar • 23 May 2025

South Africa’s biggest theme park, uShaka Marine World, has consistently reported a financial performance that left much to be desired, with the group making losses and missing key financial targets.

The Durban Marine Theme Park (DMTP), trading as uShaka Marine World (UMW), is a municipal entity controlled by the eThekwini Municipality, which has 100% ownership.

Covering 16 hectares, uShaka Marine World is the largest theme park in Africa, with seven distinct offerings. These are:

Wet ‘n Wild, which consists of water-based slides
Sea World, which has the largest aquarium in the southern hemisphere
uShaka Kids World, designed for kids under the age of 12
Village Walk, a shopping centre
Dangerous Creatures, which houses reptiles, arthropods, amphibians, tarantulas and large king snakes
Sea Animal Encounter Island, where guests can participate in interactions with the sea animals
Food and Beverage offerings, which range from fast food to classic dining restaurants

uShaka Marine World is located along the City’s main beachfront and was conceived in 2003 as part of the waterfront’s redevelopment. April 2024 marked the park’s 20th birthday.

There were two main objectives for the creation of UMW:

A strategic tourism facility for the City of Durban and the Province of KwaZulu-Natal
Catalyse urban renewal around the Point Precinct

While the theme park is a major attraction for the province, beloved by both tourists and locals, its financial performance has struggled.

Its latest financial results, released for the 2023/24 financial year, revealed that it recorded a net deficit of R45.4 million in 2024, compared to a deficit of R13.7 million in 2023.

Notably, this loss comes after the theme park received a R127.3 million grant from the local government.

Total Revenue for 2023/24 was R273.5 million, a decrease from R282.7 million in 2022/23. This revenue is derived from trading activities and local government grants.

Trading Revenue saw only a marginal growth of 0.4% year-on-year, increasing from R139.18 million in 2022/23 to R139.68 million in 2023/24.

The table below compares budgeted vs real revenue raised from different segments in UMW during the period.

Segment	Budgeted revenue	Real revenue
Ticketing	R109,851,238	R89,715,274
Food and Beverage (include functions)	R23,679,893	R22,282,935
Rental revenue from Village Walk	R30,215,554	R23323,696
Merchandising	R3,045,739	R2,455,311
Sundry revenues and Equipment hire	R1,593,268	R1,774,170
Parking	R1,874,750	R1,438,992
Sponsorship	R366,000	R1,275,878
Government Grant	R135,724,803	R127,298,495

Interestingly, the group saw more visitors, with 739,120 visitors, representing a 2.28% growth from the previous financial year.

For the financial year, the number of general visitors to the park exceeded three million. However, this was still lower than projected.

The group attributed this disproportional increase compared to footfall growth to the product sales mix, low season promotional pricing, the depressed economic climate, lower yield, the impact of the strike, and bad weather.

Additionally, three key financial performance indicators related to Municipal Financial Viability and Management were not achieved.

They achieved 0.4% growth in trading revenue compared to their planned 2% growth. The amount of budgeted EBITDA achieved was negative R28.98 million compared to the budgeted R77.09 million.

Finally, it did not manage to pay its creditors within 30 days. A significant portion, R9.96 million out of R14.88 million, was over 90 days past due as of 30 June 2024.

Revenue woes persist

Since the park’s inception, the average revenue has been R202.35 million, while total operating expenses have averaged R265 million.

This shows the park cannot trade its way into financial sustainability without major intervention or continuous financial support from the parent municipality. The Board and Management continuously look for new, innovative business growth strategies.

A feasibility study is also in progress to ascertain the nature of intervention required to ensure the entity’s future financial sustainability.

“We are pleased that despite the many challenges faced by DMTP in its operating environment, it continues to strive and play the role of being the leading tourism attraction,” City Manager Mr T.B. Mbhele said.

UMW chalked much of its weak performance up to the lingering effects of COVID-19, the July 2021 riots, and the April 2022 floods.

“We have noted also that the Entity’s footfall year-end figures reflect the fact that it achieved just over 80% of its pre-Covid-19 figures, which aligns with the Tourism sector recovery trend.”

Mbhele added that UMW concluded its feasibility study during this financial year, and its recommendations were forwarded to the Municipality for consideration.

“I am certain that these recommendations will receive the utmost attention of the Municipality during the 2024/25 financial year,” he said.

“This will ensure that all the necessary interventions are put in place to support this leading tourism attraction for Durban.”

Mbhele also explained that the operating environment continues to be exposed to two key elements beyond its control.

“The first one is the issue of climate change, and in this instance, we have noted how bad weather impacted the Entity’s revenue during the peak season in December 2023,” he said.

“This challenge calls for a continuous search for opportunities for diversified secondary revenue streams which are not weather-dependent.”

The second issue, he said, is the state of the economy. As a tourism attraction, the UMW relies on the availability of disposable income for guests to visit the park.

“Therefore, in this depressed economic climate, the Entity continued to experience a drop in average spend per visitor and, ultimately, its overall trading revenue,” he said.

“Nevertheless, for each of the above issues raised, we are satisfied that the Entity has identified the necessary interventions to effectively address them.”