Pretoria - Police Minister Bheki Cele has expressed disappointment after being given statistics showing at least 11 robberies on foreign tourists, with only two arrests being made, when he toured Mpumalanga on Wednesday.
“It does look like we have a problem here. I have been given (information) about the robberies,” he said.
“Fortunately, there has been no murder on those foreign nationals who are tourists (in the previous incidents).
“We have not done very well with arrests – two arrests have been done on those 11 incidents,” said Cele, who was flanked by senior officials, including Mpumalanga MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Vusi Shongwe and national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola.
“The national commissioner is here with his top management Lieutenant General Sibiya and provincial commissioner (Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela) to say how far do we take those matters, to be able to crack those,” he said.
Cele said tourism is the “gold mine” in the area and communities would suffer if there is a decline in visitor activity.
He said three people are being questioned by police but they have not been formally charged at this stage.
“As we stand here, we have three people of interest on this one.
“They are not arrested, though they are people of interest. They are in the hands of the police.
“We are working to find out how far we have gone with them. So, we believe that we will be able to crack the case very, very soon,” he said.
Shongwe has appealed to community members to help the police find people involved in the fatal shooting of a German tourist.
Shongwe has “condemned in the strongest possible terms” the incident which took place on Numbi Road near the Kruger National Park.
He added that the attack on tourists was undoing the hard work that the government and other stakeholders are doing to growing tourism in the province.
“We must work hand-in-hand with communities so that we bring to book those who perpetuate crimes against our visitors. Perpetrators should also be harshly punished.
“Tourism plays an important role in growing the economy of the country and the creation of much needed jobs. These crimes will not only affect tourism businesses, but many families who rely on those who work in the tourism sector,” he said.
The Pretoria Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany said it had noted the “tragic incident” in which four German nationals came under attack in Mpumalanga while heading to a lodge near the Kruger National Park’s Numbi Gate on Monday afternoon.
However, a witness to the murder has said police arrived at the crime scene 45 minutes after he called them. He said crime was common in the area, and he insists some tourists have been murdered.
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 shot 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 that had shot that gentleman just drove off. After some seconds, the guy that was driving the Hyundai lost control then he hit the wall of the school,” he said.
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 wall.
He told the television channel that in a previous incident, two men tried to shoot a driver transporting tourists because he refused to stop.
“It happened where we are standing right now. There was a bus for the tourists, and two young guys came out exactly where we are and they were trying to shoot the driver who was refusing to stop. Unfortunately, the driver was also shooting at them. One lady was shot. I do not know if she died or not,” said Khoza.
“Another one (incident) that happened was two months back. I even have the picture. One parent was collecting his child here so he saw some tourists being attacked by those boys. As he tried to chase them, they shot his son. The son spent some weeks in the hospital (where doctors tried) to remove the bullet in the forehead. I have the pictures here with me,” he said.
In another incident, Khoza said he saw a tourist who had been shot “in the forehead”.
IOL