Sadly for some, Cape Town is not Phuket

SOUTH Africans love visiting Thailand. I suppose it is all about getting value for money and other personal reasons as well. After two days in Phuket, one immediately draws parallels between the common battles shared with Cape Town. One which immediately jumps out, is poverty.

To get to the resort, we had to drive through a main roadway lined with businesses run from home. Homes double as businesses; some sell vegetables and/or groceries. Businesses range from scooter hiring and eateries to massage parlours. There are money changers on virtually every corner and side-cars converted into mobile fast food outlets with tuk tuk taxis sprinkled all over.

People appear to make their living with what they have. They attract tourists into their homes to make ends meets – they need to sell their products or go hungry.

Should we not adopt a similar strategy in Cape Town, being a massive tourist attraction? Will this not empower people economically? Yes, but are there any big stumbling blocks?

People live behind concrete palisade fences in cages called townships, far away from the city centre. Tourists need to be taken to the people, which is a massive challenge. The two have been separated “in crime-infested kilometres” from each other. Many tourists are unaware of the folks behind the concrete walls.

Another problem is that municipal regulations have killed off all entrepreneurs in the food industry, making it almost impossible to trade with the money being ushered into the white-owned hotels and eateries. You battle to get approval to park a trailer in a tourist environment to sell your goods, unlike in Thailand.

So the have-nots battle to trade in the townships, trying to move money around which is not there. The rich on the other hand, move their money around amongst themselves while cashing in on the tourist trade.

Just a thought, but Phuket is not Cape Town.

KENNETH M ALEXANDER Athlone