The miracle of little railway town Alicedale’s economic resurrection was about to derail six months ago – until an 11th hour settlement put the project back on track.

The once-destitute town’s recovery had been going full steam ahead ever since Shamwari Game Reserve founder Adrian Gardiner built a plush four-star hotel there three years ago – with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation and the Alicedale community as partners.

But in October – five days before Gary Player was to arrive to launch the golf course he designed for the hotel – tension was so high Environment and Tourism MEC Andre de Wet made an emergency call to one of SA’s top conflict resolution experts.

Consultant Rommel Roberts said: “The golf course fence had already been defaced and some course flags removed ... There were protest marches, and more serious rumblings than that.”

Roberts said he worked night and day, conducting private interviews and meetings with various groups which culminated in a mass meeting where an elderly lady burst out: “They built that golf course over our graves!”

Roberts said in 30 years of conflict resolution he had faced down mobs baying for blood before, “but it took every ounce of all that experience and skill to turn around the anger, hurt, fear and miscommunication in the time given – to transform the protest into a celebration of the future, and to forge a process in which people became the architects of their own future”.

The key was a declaration of intent – signed by Bushman Sands Hotel investors, the Eastern Cape government and community members. It included a promise from investor Adrian Gardiner’s Mantis Collection company that it would give preference to the town’s produce when sourcing its needs – and one from the government to support local production efforts.

“Once the terms were agreed upon, we could celebrate – and we did. The launch with Gary Player went off well.”

Roberts said once the launch was over, they mapped out solid business plans and developed a “coherent structure to manage the process”.

The structure was a non-profit organisation called the Alicedale Development Agency (ADA) made up of about 18 residents committed to job creation who meet several times a week – on a voluntary basis.

Roberts said intensive workshopping got people to re-evaluate their resources.

“Your hands are a resource ... (you) could see that pile of junk on the corner as a resource and transform it.”

Next, he embarked on a “resource survey” to create a database of the skills available in a town of about 6000 residents – where 95 percent of the working population lived on social grants.

The community – “filled with incredible self-belief” – threw a “skills festival” which was so successful that the ECDC has sponsored it as an annual event.

“People’s products were completely sold out. Even the people who were muttering and saying it wouldn’t work are enthusiastic now.”

Alicedale has also linked itself to nearby Grahamstown’s annual National Arts Festival, submitting a four-day programme, including a rock art trail – something the festival has never had before.

And investors have pledged almost R5million, half from a Swedish company, to expand some of Alicedale’s existing projects.