Tourism sector for nation building
‘Ripe moment to build together a future founded in our hopes’
ON THE 18th of this month, I had the privilege of being invited as a panelist to share my insights on a 1987 documentary titled Breaking the Fetters. The one-hour documentary captures comprehensively the first encounter between the 52 mainly Afrikaans-speaking delegation, led by the late Dr Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert, and the ANC under the leadership of the late Oliver Tambo.
What struck me about their engagement was their honesty and commitment to change the apartheid regime which had become even more brutal and untenable.
Fast forward to exactly 31 years later on the same day, while South Africans of all races were discussing transformation and social cohesion at the aforesaid event, a very disturbing video was trending of Mr Adam Catzavelos who openly, not only undermined the hard work that has been done to unite different races in our country, but went further to expose his racist views.
His views continue to expose the intransigence of a tiny minority of white people who still believe the tourism industry should be their exclusive territory – where the previously marginalised majority people of this country operate at the periphery as hewers of wood and drawers of water, to use the late apartheid architect Hendrik Verwoed’s words.
This unfortunate incident undermines the journey that we as a nation have travelled to heal and discover each other as fellow human beings. The swift response and condemnation of this dastardly act by different cohorts – from civil society to the business sector – reiterated our nation’s strong commitment to a democratic, non-racist and non-sexist society.
Condemning such frivolous and bigoted attitudes is commendable, but such incidents should also serve as a sobering reminder that we remain a wounded nation – divided and not totally reconciled.
Apartheid not only inflicted pain on the majority of black people, but also entrenched a superiority complex amongst white people, something which even our democratic and progressive constitution cannot change unless people are willing to admit that apartheid was wrong and was a crime against humanity. We need to ask ourselves: how can we put tourism at the centre of economic transformation and nation building?
As we celebrate the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela, let us as a nation embrace his values, while continuing with critical engagement on transformation, especially in the tourism industry. This is an opportune time to isolate and expose the Sparrows and Adam Catzavelos of this world as we converse and nip in the bud both overt and covert racism.
Let us not forget that for any international visitor who arrives in our country’s shores, the impression she or he gets is what the tourism industry offers, from the tour guide, the hotel waitress to the hotel manager. In a nutshell, tourism is the face of our nation and is at the coalface of how other nations perceive us as a nation.
Our president Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, in his State of the Nation Address identified tourism as a critical driver of employment creation. At provincial level our MEC for economic development, tourism and environmental affairs, Mr Sihle Zikalala, in a speech delivered at the Growth Coalition Breakfast meeting on the 23rd of August, said: “This is not the time for divisions, but a ripe moment to build together a future founded on our hopes, not our fears.”
According to the recent Grant Thornton Study, by 2030, Africa can expect to see some 134 million arrivals. It further states that emerging economy destinations such as South Africa are expected to surpass advanced destinations as tourists seek out yet-to-be-discovered experiences.
It is in this context that the cabinet-approved National Tourism Sector Strategy for 2016 to 2026 has been aligned to the NDP and Tourism Act 3 of 2014.
As Tourism Kwazulu-natal and Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs we shall soon embark on province-wide transformation dialogues aimed at giving a voice to industry players and developing a collective meaning and understanding of what transformation should look like generally and in our province in particular. These dialogues will also provide a platform for partners to address issues such as racism, rural and townships tourism and how to grow and sustain the industry.
Madlala is the chairperson of Tourism KZN, civil society co-ordinator in the KZN Economic Council, member of the KZN Transformation and Evaluation council and director at Social Engagement Facilitators of Southern Africa.