A safety plan for tourists in Mpumalanga was unanimously accepted after the FF Plus tabled it in the provincial Legislature.
The plan focuses specifically on the area near the Kruger National Park's Numbi Gate.
Over the past few weeks, numerous visitors to the Kruger National Park were robbed by armed men after they had exited the Park via the Numbi Gate.
In a very short period of time, a mother and her children were shot at in their car, two German tourists were robbed in broad daylight and a family of five was stopped and robbed.
The FF Plus is insisting on, among other things, strong police visibility in the area.
In the safety plan, the FF Plus requests the provincial Department of Community Safety's cooperation with regard to the following:
• Identification and analysis of key hotspots;
• Creating a database of crimes committed against tourists;
• Improving the tourism environment through visible policing and the implementation of tourism-monitoring programmes; and
• Creating a 24-hour hotline for tourism safety.
Another purpose of the safety plan is to promote the partnership between the public and private sectors so as to address the issue of tourism safety in a more coordinated manner.
The aim is to offer an improved tourism experience and change any possible perceptions that Mpumalanga is an unsafe destination.
Over the next three years, R370 million will be spent on upgrading the tourism facilities, roads and gates of the Kruger National Park.
However, spending all that money will mean nothing if the tourism routes to the Park, and specifically the Numbi Gate route, remain a crime hotspot.
Protecting all tourists, preventing organised crime and promoting sustainable tourism development are extremely important for Mpumalanga.
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