The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway’s annual maintenance programme is in its final stages, with final safety tests scheduled for Saturday ahead of the top tourist attraction’s planned reopening on Monday 10 August.

During a media briefing held today (5 August), the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company (TMACC) gave the media a behind-the-scenes look at the extensive inspections, testing, servicing and preventative maintenance carried out during the annual closure.

The Cableway has been closed since Monday 27 July to allow technical and operational teams access to complete critical maintenance work.

The annual shutdown is scheduled to end on Sunday 9 August.

Critical Maintenance

TMACC Technical Executive Manager Andries de Vries said one of the most significant tasks has been replacing the steel wire ropes that pull the cable car up the mountain.

The steel wire ropes, measuring 1.2km in length, run from the lower station to the top station.

De Vries said the specialised work is carried out by engineers from Swiss manufacturer Garaventa, the original equipment manufacturer of the current rotating cable cars introduced in 1997.

“We fly down engineers from Switzerland for this job. They bring their equipment and our team helps where needed. We have been making use of their services since the rebuild of the current rotating cabins in 1997,” he said.

Project Delays

Despite facing several setbacks during the maintenance period, De Vries said the project remains on schedule.

“We had personnel loss due to illness, delays in tool and equipment deliveries during the first three days of the shutdown, as well as the fire on Sunday 2 August, which resulted in us losing another half a day. We are on track and will open on Monday 10 August.”

He said the remaining maintenance work is expected to be completed by tomorrow (6 August), with the Cableway undergoing testing on Saturday 8 August.

TMACC Managing Director Wahida Parker said the company is now at the tail end of the maintenance programme.

“We have been going according to schedule despite the fact that we’ve had some hiccups. The biggest impact has been the fire which broke out on Sunday.”

Parker said the wildfire forced maintenance work to stop temporarily and created a tense situation for staff working on the mountain.

Visitor Safety

“The fire resulted in work having to stop. It was very scary for our staff who were on site. We are grateful to the fire services, the City of Cape Town, SANParks and all the volunteers who came out to assist us on the day.”

She also thanked TMACC staff who helped protect the Cableway’s facilities during the incident.

“We are also grateful to our staff who stepped in to assist in ensuring our premises remain safe.”

Parker said, in addition to the mechanical maintenance, refurbishment work has also been carried out at the lower station deck building.

“We also do a bit of refurbishment and freshening up areas, painting and just giving it a fresh new look. These improvements are all designed to improve the visitor experience.”

While Parker could not provide an exact cost of the maintenance programme, she said it amounts to millions of rand each year.

“It is an expensive but necessary exercise. At the Cableway we believe in safety first. For that reason, we are always alert to the fact that in order to keep this operation at a world-class standard, we will have to spend money, and we do.”

Parker said the team is looking forward to welcoming visitors back.

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