Speech by Deputy Minister of Tourism, Honourable Ms Maggie Sotyu (MP) at the stakeholder engagement at Jozini Local Municipality, KZN

MEC for Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs Hon Rev. Musa Zondi, MPL;
Executive Mayor of uMkhanyakhude District;
Municipality Cllr S Mdaka;
Executive Mayor of City uMhlathuze;
Municipality Cllr Xolani Ngwezi;
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Tourism Hon. Ms Lungi Mnganga-Gcabashe (MP);
Whip in the Portfolio Committee on Tourism;
Hon Ms. Thembeka Mchunu, (MP);
DG, DDGs and Senior Managers;
All Executives of Government Institutions;
Members of the Media;
Members of the community.

Thank you, Programme Director.

Good afternoon everyone,

This event is essential for fostering collaboration, understanding, and shared ownership of key initiatives.

That is why I would like to thank you all again for making time to attend.

I hope that this gathering will provide a platform for diverse voices to exchange ideas and contribute to shaping outcomes that reflect the Umkhanyakhude communities' needs and priorities.

By engaging stakeholders and communities in meaningful dialogue, we build trust, establishtransparency, and encourage active participation.

At the same time, it gives us a chance to ensure that all perspectives are considered as we move forward.

Today is an honour to stand here at “Where Adventure meets Wildlife", Jozini.

This area is so diverse in culture, populated by isiZulu, SeSwati, and Xithonga speaking people.

The large expanse of Lake Jozini to nature reserves and the Usuthu Gorge bring the three countries (Eswatini - Swaziland, Mozambique, and South Africa) together.

Not to mention the big five and the over four hundred and twenty (420) bird species. By implication, this makes the municipality tourism rich even though we also have underdeveloped areas.

Programme Director, it is our duty to maximise every opportunity presented by this proximitybetween the three countries.

Speaking of opportunities. Today I would also like to put the spotlight on our departmentalprogrammes. We have a variety of programmes with the specific aim of promoting tourism, alleviating poverty, and creating jobs.

Our Market Access Support Programme offers financial support to small tourism enterprises toexhibit at tourism platforms.

From April 2024, a total of 42 KZN enterprises were supported under this programme to participate at trade platforms including the World Travel Market (WTM) Africa (9), Africa's Travel Indaba (28), IMEX America (3) and the WTM London (2).

We also supported 28 KZN enterprises supported to participate at this year's Africa's Travel Indaba.

I want to urge you to visit the Department of Tourism website at www.tourism.gov.za and look at this Market Access Support Incentive Programme.

There are currently two calls out to support tourism businesses to participate at the South African Tourism pavilion at the Internationale Tourismus-Börse 2025 in Berlin, Germany in March and another to participate at the World

Travel Market Africa 2025 exhibition in April in Cape Town. SMME's in this region are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunities and apply.

We want to encourage you to apply for our Green Tourism Incentive Programme which offers a win-win solution to touris establishments and our greening objectives.

This programme is a resource efficiency programme which aims to support tourism enterprises to reduce the cost of investing in energy and water efficient solutions.

The window period for this programme is open until end of February 2025 and will greatly assist a tourism establishment to reduce their electricity and water bills in the long term.

The Department also established a Tourism Transformation Fund and Tourism Equity Fund to support the transformation efforts in the sector.

The Transformation Fund offers a combination of debt finance and grant funding for new andexpansion tourism development projects with majority black shareholding.

For tourist guides, the Department has a number of programmes including language training. The intermediate level of our Mandarin language training programme took place in the 2022/23 financial year.

Out of the 34 guides that participated, five were KZN-registered tourist guides. Currently, Phase Three of this programme is taking place as 16 tourist guides from all provinces are visiting China for a three-week cultural tour to sharpen their mandarin as well as their understanding of the Chinese market.

In the long term this programme will greatly support our efforts in increasing visitors from China. A similar German Language programme will soon commence to address the shortage of German speaking guides in the country.

The Department launched a Tourism Technology Grassroots Innovation and Incubation Programme (TTGIIP) which is a collaborative initiative with Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) which is an agency of the Department of Science and Innovation.

This programme empowers technology and innovation businesses in the tourism sector to take advantage of the opportunities brought by technology in growing their businesses.

Out of 20 innovators that benefitted from the two-year programme, we have three innovators from KwaZulu-Natal, one female and two males.

We also have two community Based Tourism Incubation Programme (CBT) in KZN namely the Thandanani Arts and Craft Centre based in Ukhahlamba District Municipality and the St Lucia- Khula Village which is based in Mtubatuba Local Municipality.

In the case of the St Lucia- Khula Village, the programme supports three homestays in partnership with the local Community Tourism Organisation.

Interventions include business plan development, mentorship sessions, needs assessments and growth-plan development.

For youth in tourism, the Department offers annually a bursary programme and learnershipprogramme focussing on professional cooking, wine appreciation and hospitality targeting youth with an interest in tourism.

I urge all the young people here to visit the departmental website and social media pages regularly for these opportunities.

I would like to urge you to familiarise yourself with all the projects that we offer that can assist in promoting tourism. We also have various projects going on in the province as you can recall from the presentation made earlier.

I am pleased to inform you that on 4 October 2024, we gazetted the White Paper on theDevelopment and Promotion of Tourism in South Africa, following Cabinet approval on 18 September.

It will guide the next phase of tourism development and ensure that the country moves towards reaching its full potential.

The Tourism White Paper focuses on promoting safety and security, facilitating ease of access, domestic tourism, crisis management, promoting transformation, enabling technology, and recommits to a responsible tourism agenda.

The Tourism White Paper is available on the Departmental website.

The White Paper and the drive towards accelerated tourism development is part of the priorities adopted by the Government of National Unity (GNU) :

For the next five (5) years, the GNU has resolved to dedicate itself to actions that will advance three strategic priorities:

To drive inclusive growth and job creation
To reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living
To build a capable, ethical, and developmental state.
I am well aware of the fact that the area is faced with many challenges, such as funding, poor road infrastructure, shortage of Tour guides, grading of black-owned Tourism establishments, and how the communities can benefit from the sector.

When we move forward, I would like to urge everyone to always keep these priorities in mind and use them in every step we take to improve the conditions of our people.

Let us continue working in close partnership with our social partners, the private sector, and the broader communities to address all aspects of tourism that will drive growth.

Let us jointly build a capable, ethical and developmental state and sector, implement our five-year plan, and target by implementing programmes for demand-led skills.

I Thank You All.​