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The South African Police Service (SAPS) will increase visibility at identified tourist attraction sites in the country to support the growth of the tourism industry.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said late last week in his state of the nation address that SAPS was training tourism safety monitors and will establish a reserve police capacity to focus on the policing of tourist attraction areas.
“Anti-Gang Units will be further strengthened, with priority given to the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Free State,” he said.
“Following the graduation of 5,000 police trainees last year, 7,000 new police trainees have been enlisted this year to strengthen local policing.”
Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said last December that the sector had raised great concern about safety affecting tourism, to the extent that international arrivals to South Africa had dropped.
About R40 million from the Tourism Marketing South Africa (TOMSA) levy had been reprioritised towards dealing with safety issues.
Pilot interventions made so far include the deployment of private security at tourism hotspots and the installation of CCTV cameras as well as the deployment of drones for response.
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