FOLLOWING the abandonment of 213 elderly tourists from Soweto, Johannesburg, by the tour guide who left them stranded in Cape Town without the means to pay their hotel bill, the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has expressed its "outrage" at this "totally unacceptable behaviour".
In a statement issued by Didi Moyle, Special Adviser to Mohammed Valli Moosa, Minister of Environmental Affairs & Tourism, she says the Ministry is putting measures in place to ensure that this kind of situation does not occur in South Africa again.
The tourists made headlines last week when their private tour guide, a high-profile official from the Pan African Congress (PAC) and well-known to the tour group, left the Kingsbury Hotel in Seapoint, Cape Town without settling the R193 000 bill.
Most of the group of tourists - aged between 70 and 80 years - had never seen the sea and had contributed R50 a month to a "Christmas Fund" which would ultimately pay for their trip to Cape Town. The fund was established by the tour guide who was a prominent member of their local community.
The Kingsbury Hotel's general manager, Vasie Pillay, finally agreed to let the tourists stay the duration of their tour, which lasted until yesterday, after the Western Cape and Cape Town tourism authorities agreed to act as facilitators to raise funds to cover the group's expenses.
"I couldn't just leave these people on the street," he said.
Michael Bertram, sales and reservations manager for Cape Town Tourism, told Travel Now that they had had made several appeals on Cape Talk Radio - a local radio station - for the community to open their hearts to the plight of these tourists.
"The positive response we received is a measure of the Cape Town community's big heart."
He says that unscrupulous tour operations are a global trend and not limited to Africa or South Africa.
However, to avoid this kind of heartache he recommends that tourists book trips through a registered tour operator, with a well-established reputation.
Acting Satour chief executive officer (ceo), Moss Mashishi applauded the tourism bodies and Pillay for reacting so positively and so swiftly to the plight of the pensioners.
He also said that tours had been arranged for the pensioners to see some of Cape Town's sights before they left on Sunday.
The Tourism Amendment Bill, currently under discussion by a parliament-appointed portfolio and select committee, makes it a criminal offence for anyone to act as a tour guide/organiser/operator without the necessary registration with Satour.
Furthermore, the bill proposes that registered guides who do not fulfil their obligations to paying clients, may be severely penalised. This includes suspension of their registration.
Cape Town Tourism has established a fund for the collection of donations to pay the pensioners' hotel bills, travelling and other expenses. Donations can be made to Cape Town Tourism (Soweto Pensioners) at First National Bank, Adderley Street, branch code: 201409 and account number 30000028169.
(Adele Mackenzie)
