Question NW1437 to the Minister of Tourism
24 June 2022 - NW1437
Winkler, Ms HS to ask the Minister of Tourism
(1)Whether she has been advised of the threat that infrastructure collapse is having on key tourism sites across the Republic such as the state of roads leading to Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal, the sewage spills into the Duzi and on to all the beaches on the Durban Golden Mile and Umhlanga Promenade to name a few; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
Reply:
1. The broader challenges with infrastructure are well known to respective Government Departments including the Department of Tourism. While the tourism sector, just like many others depends on bulk infrastructure and services to be fully operational for both citizens and tourists alike, the development and maintenance of bulk infrastructure is not the competency of the Department of Tourism. The Department also believes that effective and functional public infrastructure at local level is the direct responsibility of the local authorities and where necessary with the support of the respective mandated portfolio departments.
2. The recovery of tourism is a collective responsibility of all spheres of government and across the various role-playing portfolios. Thus, each portfolio responsible for such enabling infrastructure across the spheres of government should effectively perform the mandate thereby enabling the recovery efforts for tourism and other sectors. To this end, the District Development Model (DDM) will go a long way in creating such enabling environment.