National Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom has raised concerns about the high levels of crime on Eastern Cape beaches.
Hanekom was speaking to the Daily Dispatch at the official launch of tourism month at Gariep Dam in the Free State on Friday.
“We’ve had a number of incidents of crime at Eastern Cape beaches and we don’t want those. You want to enjoy a clean beach and secondly you want to feel safe,” said Hanekom, adding that more tourism personnel were needed at the beaches.
“We need personnel not only to guide our tourists about available options but also to make our tourists feel safe.”
Hanekom said the Eastern Cape was blessed with a wonderful coastline and more should be done to promote this.
“Buffalo City has beautiful beaches and Jeffreys Bay is known to the world as the best surfing destination, beaches around the Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City and the Wild Coast are beautiful.
“One of our challenges is to keep our beaches clean and safe to ensure that there’s a good tourism experience,” he said.
Over the past eight years the Daily Dispatch has reported on some high profile attacks that have taken place on some of the province’s beaches.
In January 2012 two Swedish tourists were attacked and raped at Eastern Beach while a year later lawyer Dali Mpofu was attacked and stabbed six times at the same beach.
In the past week there have been four attacks on people on the stretch of beach between Bonza Bay and Gonubie, raising fears over the safety of fishermen and beach-goers.
Eastern Cape provincial police were not available for comment yesterday. At the time of writing police spokesman Captain Khaya Tonjeni said senior managers were locked in a meeting in East London.
Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency’s (ECPTA) chief marketing officer, Nopasika Mxunyelwa, said the attacks were of concern to the agency.
“The safety of tourists at these attractions continues to be a priority that the agency lobbies for with relevant stakeholders such as the South African Police Service (SAPS) and local municipalities for positive visitor experiences.”
Mxunyelwa said the agency had an annual “Tourism Buddies” intervention programme where a team of tourism ambassadors were placed at all crime hotspots along the beaches to help tourists.
“Tourism buddies assist visitors with all tourist related information. They are visible along strategic ‘hot spots’ along the coast and are easily identifiable as they wear branded T-shirts.
“Tourism Buddies are made up of groups of unemployed youth specifically trained with knowledge about the province’s heritage, historical and cultural attractions as well as safety precautions for tourists.
“The buddies start their duties from December this year to January next year – the busiest period over the festive season.” — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za