South Africa: Tourism Committee Calls on All Spheres of Government to Support Tourism

The Portfolio Committee on Tourism wrapped up its week-long oversight which focused on the implementation of the oversight priority plan on infrastructure development in the Gauteng Province yesterday.

The committee prioritised infrastructure development projects in the townships and in rural areas in its oversight programme. At the Evaton Memorial, Sharpeville Memorial and Boipatong Monument, the committee found that those sites are inadequately maintained. It called for meaningful intervention from all levels of government with the communities where these memorial and heritage sites are located to play active and leading role in their maintenance and preservation.

The committee reiterated that the memorial sites should be attractive and that the environment around them should be healthy and favourable to tourists. The committee urged the Department of Tourism to step up its role in ensuring that the memorial sites are marketable and all have a shining glory that catches the eye of tourists.

At the Cullinan Diamond Lodge which is a beneficiary of the Green Tourism Incentive Programme project, the committee found that the lodge was properly maintained. The committee advised that the prices of jewellery at the Cullinan Diamond shop should be for the South African market.

At the Cullinan Diamond Mine which the committee also visited, it said that marketing of lodges, mine and shops to both the local and international tourists should be raised. The committee found the Cradle of Humankind to be well maintained and it was impressed by the manner in which the museum is managed and maintained.

After Cullinan Diamond Lodge, the committee visited the People’s Park development project where it discovered that almost R12 million was spent on the creation of the amphi theatre and the building of the surrounding retaining walls of the park. The Creative Hub in the park precinct at Constitutional Hill which was a dilapidated building, was renovated for the purposes of job creation for local young artists.

At the Vredefort Dome project which is 96% complete, the committee heard that the project will be completed by the end of October and will be handed over in February/March next year. The committee heard that currently the project doesn’t receive municipal services such as water, electricity and sanitation.

The last tourism sites which the committee visited included the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, Soweto Hotel and Conference, and Hector Peterson Memorial Museum where it commended the museum’s tourist guide programme which yields employment and skills spin-offs for the local youth.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.