‘We will not back down’ – tourism industry

TOURISM industry
associations will not
silence their call for the
new immigration regulations
to be abolished, despite
being accused of not doing
enough to market South
Africa to overseas travellers
by Minister of Home Affairs,
Malusi Gigaba.
Tourism associations,
including TBCSA, SATSA,
Asata, Barsa, Saaci, NAA
and Fedhasa addressed
members of the press at a
media briefing on October
1 to respond to comments
made by the minister on
Twitter.
On September 27, Malusi
tweeted that opposition to
the new visa regulations
had been based on “lies
and cooked-up figures
and surveys that have no
credibility whatsoever”.
He went on to state: “I
think our tourism sector
has not been selling South
Africa as well as they should
(sic). They should be selling
the country on the basis
of what it offers travellers,
not on the basis that it’s
easy for somebody to enter
South Africa with a child,
unnoticed.
“We (the Department of
Home Affairs) never said the
[tourist] numbers would not
drop. We expected numbers
to drop as tourists comply
and familiarise themselves
with the regulations,” he
tweeted. “We are not just a
small country. Our security
and stability matter, not just
for the country but also for
the region – which is why we
met Lesotho.”
The TBCSA said the
Minister’s comments were
particularly concerning in
light of the fact that an
Inter-Ministerial Committee
(IMC) process, chaired by
the Deputy President, Cyril
Ramaphosa, was currently
under way.
David Frost, ceo of SATSA,
said the members of the
TBCSA had elected to
respect the IMC process
and remain silent while
the committee deliberated
on the issues relating to
the new visa regulations.
However, the IMC had
not been accorded the
same level of respect by
the Department of Home
Affairs. “They have taken
to the press, stakeholder
workshops and social media
to air their views and we’ve
reached the point where
this relentless barrage of
unsubstantiated accusations
cannot go unanswered.”
The TBCSA, on behalf
of the tourism industry,
continues to urge both
the Department of Home
Affairs and Deputy President
Ramaphosa to abolish the
legislation. “Overwhelming
evidence from multiple
reliable sources points to
the disastrous impact these
draconian, ill-thought-out
requirements are having
on the tourism industry,”
TBCSA chairman, Mavuso
Msimang, said in a
statement. “The economy
has already suffered
devastating losses as a
result and thousands of
jobs are on the line because
of it.”