Crime epidemic threatens tourism
The DA in Nelson Mandela Bay is concerned over the sheer lack of will of the administration to address the crime epidemic that is hampering the tourism industry in the metro.
The Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice published its annual ranking of the 50 most violent cities in the world and Gqeberha was ranked number one in SA.
It has become clear that the administration under mayor Gary van Niekerk simply don’t have the will or understanding to deal with the increase in crime in our metro.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists come to Nelson Mandela Bay annually and the majority can’t understand why more isn’t said about our tourist offerings.
This is due to the failure by the administration to promote the metro to the world.
Their failure will be twofold for the metro. Crime will continue to rise and tourism will suffer.
While most tourism sectors around the world are seeing pre-Covid numbers again, the NMB metro is suffering due to incompetence.
The DA has a clear plan to ensure that tourism becomes a priority again in this metro as this will create jobs, grow the local economy and have a positive spinoff for businesses. The DA will:
● Ensure that Metro Police are funded and equipped to grow and succeed. A bigger footprint is needed to ensure that criminality is dealt with and that bylaw enforcement becomes a priority;
● Establish dedicated tourism hubs for all the high traffic tourism spots in the metro. Build partnerships with the relevant role players and ensure that the areas are patrolled by the SAPS, Metro Police, private security companies and neighbourhood watches;
● Ensure that budget is allocated for the upkeep and maintenance of these facilities so they don’t become neglected and undesirable to visit;
● Invest in new potential tourism areas or ideas to ensure that we create more things for tourists to visit and assist these entrepreneurs or businesses by removing red tape that hampers them from providing a tourism offering;
● Create a dedicated tourism forum that regularly meets and represents the hotels,
B&Bs, businesses and role players, and facilitate meetings between them and the various departments from the municipality that can assist in addressing the issues or requests of this forum. Councillor Renaldo Gouws, spokesperson for the DA — economic development, tourism and agriculture.
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