Pretoria – Acclaimed tourism expert, Dr Unathi Sonwabile Henama says the attempted robbery and brutal murder of a German tourist near the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga will hit South African tourism destinations as the tragic news spreads across the world.
“Tourism is a sensitive industry that requires peace as a prerequisite for motivating tourists and visitors to leave their homes to come to destination South Africa. South Africa, which has a negative reputation in terms of personal safety and security, will continue to suffer from this stigma as tourists would choose other destinations which are deemed to be safer,” Henama, a tourism academic at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein, told IOL.
He said when choosing a destination tourists prioritise their personal safety “as being paramount and would shun destinations that cannot secure their safety”.
“This means less tourists for South Africa as such tragic news will be wildfire in media outlets all over the world. This should be a time for all hands on deck for tourism recovery, instead of managing a crisis. Law enforcement must apprehend those who did these acts of crime,” said Henama.
“Without doubt, the safety of tourists cannot be (in) the absence of the safety of all citizens. Safety must be a dividend enjoyed by both tourists and locals.”
He urged the government to make the country safe for citizens, and the visitors would benefit too.
“In tourism we always say ‘if the cities and towns are great enough for the citizens to stay there, the tourists will naturally come’. The crime experienced by those tourists is a daily reality of the vast majority of citizens,” said Henama.
The academic said the murder of the tourist was “unfortunate and regrettable”. He sent condolences to the family of the deceased man.
A witness of the murder of the German tourist, who was killed near the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga on Monday, said police arrived at the crime scene 45 minutes after he called them. He said crime was common in the area and tourists were often attacked.
Andrew Khoza, a director at the Heroes Academy educational facility near White River, where the Hyundai Staria transporting the four German tourists crashed after the driver lost control, said the assailants fled the scene in a bakkie.
“We were seated next to the school gate, inside, then we heard a gunshot. We went outside to see what was happening, then I saw a car reversing. There was a lady who was screaming ‘do not kill my husband, do not kill us’. It happened in a matter of seconds,” Khoza told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.
“As the car (the tourists’ Hyundai Staria) was reversing, the bakkie (in which the assailants were) just drove off. After some seconds, the guy that was driving the Hyundai lost control, then he hit the wall of the school.”
The Hyundai Staria travelled about 100 metres in reverse after the tourist who was driving had been shot. It then crashed into Khoza’s school.
IOL