Tourism authorities vow to curb crime that affects tourism

Following a number of robberies where tourists were the victims in the Lowveld recently, one of these incidents being in the White River area, Kruger Lowveld Tourism has taken the matter up at the highest possible levels to secure strong government and police intervention.

The Mpumalanga MEC for community safety, security and liaison, Gabisile Tshabalala, promised to prioritise the situation and prompt interventions are anticipated from SAPS and all relevant provincial government departments.

All stakeholders in the surrounding towns of the Kruger Lowveld region are working tirelessly to ensure that every possible step is taken to keep tourists safe.

“Tourism safety is our absolute highest priority,” said Oupa Pilane, president of Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism.

“We are doing everything in our power to ensure that there is no repeat of these unfortunate incidents. We are grateful to our colleagues in tourism and government for their proactive cooperation in the face of these challenges.”

A high level priority meeting of government, law enforcement and private sector stakeholders has been held since, where existing structures were reinforced and additional measures were proposed and implemented.

The cases have been escalated to ensure priority investigation and everybody is hopeful that arrests will be made soon.