Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

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Richprins
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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

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Shots fired during armed robbery of German tourists
An elderly German couple touring the Lowveld became victims of an armed robbery on their way to KMI Airport on Tuesday.
23 hours ago

WHITE RIVER – According to police spokesman Sgt Cynthia Mbokodo, they were on their way to the airport at around 13:30. The woman (62) and her husband (65) were due to catch a flight at 16:00.

According to Mbokodo, a white Volkswagen Polo with no registration plates overtook them as they came to a stop at the circle of the R538. The attackers came to a stop in front of the bakkie they were travelling in.

“Two men with firearms got out. They fired three shots near the couple’s car and then pointed the firearms at them. They opened the doors of the vehicle and took the couple’s bags and belongings. They took their bag with their passports and euros valued at around R15 000.”

Mbokodo said they attended the scene and a bullet casing had been found.

“Airport police and our police, with forensics were at the scene. The couple assured us that they had sufficient documentation to still catch their flight back.”

No arrests have been made.


Ecotraining sales and product manager, Corne Schalkwyk said the German source market happened to be the country’s largest international market, and, although a more robust one, was still easily affected by crime.

“They happen to be a more informed market when it comes to South Africa as a product, but do expect action to be taken after such an incident. I expect that they would keep a close eye on how we react and follow up, and would expect that our government take this seriously,” he said.

According to the website South African and East African Tourism Update, South Africa has a bad reputation as an unsafe country where tourists run a high risk of getting mugged, robbed or hijacked. They reported that failure by government to address the high crime rate was costing the country thousands of jobs in the tourism sector.

The website also stated that tourists pay thousands of rand to come to the country and visit the Kruger National Park or Sabi Sand Game Reserve.

If the road is blocked in protests and tourists cannot get to their destination, nothing good can come from that. If their itinerary was disrupted in any way, they will go home and never return to South Africa, and warn others never to come here.

https://lowvelder.co.za/461495/shots-fi ... -tourists/


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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

Post by Alf »

O/ O/


Next trip to the bush??

Let me think......................
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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

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0*\


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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

Post by Lisbeth »

The police do not work properly, but this is nothing new. But what is even worse is that if it was not for the fear of loss of tourism income, nobody would care a damn @#$

If you go to South Africa you'll need an armed bodyguard and be sure that he is not part of a gang O/

And I thought that I was safe getting a flight all the way to Phalaborwa 0*\


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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

Post by Peter Betts »

It's election time so cant arrest your voters can you ..and the Govt doesnt really care as the Park gets still more votes for the ruling party through locals getting FREE harvesting of Firewood, Thatching Grass , They get Buffalo meat too and they use camps swimming pools and facilities when there is clear signage to the contrary and ZERO policing of these facilities where booked in resident Germans and others get swamped out ..Cant make your voters upset can you. African Destinations like South Luangwa lodges, Mana Pools self drive and Lodges, Hwange Lodges, Okavango , Etosha and Masai Mara are far 'safer' options for say Germans at the moment


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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

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Tourism gets affected by protest action
Tourists have missed flights, buses had to turn around and local transport operators suffered.
14 mins ago
The R536 was closed through Mkuhlu on most of Monday and Tuesday. Photo from a local WhatsApp group
Mariana Balt

HAZYVIEW – Tourism, especially transport to and from Kruger Gate and Sabi Sand Game Reserve has been severely affected by service delivery protests in the region.

Unfortunately that is something the local tourism industry will have to tolerate at least until the coming elections. This is the view of local tourism organisations.

“It is inevitable that it will continue until May,” said Hazyview Chamber of Tourism and Business (HCBT) chairman, Chris Harvie.

“We have to understand the issues these communities are complaining about and from our side we also encourage authorities to give attention to their complaints.”


Image

This was echoed by Tom Vorster of the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT), who said tourists have missed flights, buses had to turn around and local operators suffered because tourists now prefered to fly directly into Skukuza or the private game reserves.

“That way they do not see or experience the rest of Mpumalanga and perceive the province to be ‘behind a fence’,” he said.

“It affects freelance transport operators the most because they hardly get work any more.”

The R536 was blocked at Mkuhlu most of Monday and Tuesday.

Visitors to the Kruger National Park were not that badly affected because they had been advised by SANParks to use Phabeni Gate for entrance to the park.

Self-drive tourists travelling by road to southern Sabi Sand were advised by its management to avoid Mkhuhlu by entering Kruger at Phabeni and coming out at Paul Kruger Gate again, to use Shaw’s Gate into Sabi Sand.

Newington Gate was advised to be avoided. Visitors to Djuma, Arathusa and other camps in the north were unaffected and could gain access via Acornhoek.

Protests included marches to the municipal offices at the Newington and Belfast four-way stop on Monday morning and on Tuesday the R536 was blocked again. Protesters moved to different locations on the road through Mkuhlu.

Due to a police and fire brigade presence, the road was opened later on Tuesday morning, but travellers still found it difficult to negotiate the road due to debris such as stones and branches.

Local WhatsApp and online groups run by different tourism operators and traffic and security groups kept road users informed.


On Monday members of the HCBT had a meeting with SAPS commanding officer, Col Sabelo Mlangeni and his team. He assured them that the police are doing their best to curb the consequences of these actions.

“We are determined to make a difference, but have to deal with our own frustrations,” he told the representatives.

The Hazyview SAPS, however, only support the SAPS from the Calcutta station, which is nearer to the unrest areas.

Yesterday the station commander at Calcutta and team were occupied at a gathering where officials from local government were addressing crowds in the area and therefore could not comment.

There were, however, no reports of major roads blocked at the time.

The KLCBT confirmed in a newsletter that these disruptive service delivery protests have a significant negative effect on tourism in the region.

The letter further stated that although it does not have authority to direct law enforcement agencies to deal with the illegal road closures or solve the legitimate grievances of the protesting communities, it had been working to ensure that roads are cleared as quickly as possible.

Apart from receiving and distributing information about protests through the Kruger Lowveld WhatsApp network with over 500 members, they already had intense engagement with provincial authorities and the police. “We have finally been given access to the people responsible for tourism safety in the province and sent our messages directly to them, to direct the required resources to the problem area immediately,” it declared.

Through the South African Tourism Services Association, the KLCBT and other affected stakeholders are trying to approach the minister of tourism to inform him about the damage these protests are doing to the industry. They hope for assistance from his cabinet colleagues to attend to matters behind the protests, which fall under their portfolios.

Political opportunism is apparent in many of the comments overheard by community leaders in the area.

Allegations of water delivered to the area by local government, but then sold to residents by corrupt councillors, are rife, as is a rumour that they are assured that currently closed water supplies will be reopened after the elections.

https://lowvelder.co.za/472282/mariana-protests/


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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

Post by Lisbeth »

What a crazy situation and as always unlawful opportunists to profit from the situation.

Is the lack of service delivery the fault of the local government or the central one? The local I presume also from the text of the article. Why is this?
Because they do not pay the bills for these services and they stop? This has been going on for years O/


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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

Post by Richprins »

Service delivery is a very complex issue. Unrealistic promises are made for votes. Money for projects is stolen or tenders awarded to connections who cannot do the work. Building materials are stolen by the very communities who complain...etc. :O^


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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

Post by Lisbeth »

What a mess! The country has to grow up 0*\ The (few?) bad apples ruin the life for the less fortunate most likely 0=


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Re: Foreign Tourists Abandon Kruger Due to Protest Dangers on Access Roads

Post by Alf »

The think the words “service delivery “ are just an excuse to protest and to loot shops and to create havoc.


Next trip to the bush??

Let me think......................
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