The South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stressed tourism’s role in accelerating job creation.
Ramaphosa, who was speaking at the State of the Nation Address in Parliament earlier this month, stressed that tourism was responsible for 700000 direct jobs in the economy and “there was just no reason” why this number could not double.
To quote the President, “We have the most beautiful people in the whole world, and we are the most hospitable people in the whole world. And there’s no reason (why) we cannot grow our tourism industry.”
The Xanatseni region in the Kruger National Park (KNP) is an area which neighbouring communities refer to as “better than a gold mine”. Xanatseni is the northernmost region of the KNP with land area stretching over 530000 hectares.
There is a wide array of animals – elephants, giraffes, buck and monkeys – existing peacefully in their natural habitat. But the involvement of locals from neighbouring communities in nature conservation in and around the park is perhaps the most interesting aspect.
Makuleke land, which stretches over more than 20000ha, was returned to its people in 1998 under the custodianship of South African National Parks (SANParks), a state-owned entity.
It is the people’s responsibility to play an active role in nature conservation, not only to regain their heritage but also to promote tourism for expanding their community’s economy and speeding up job creation.
The EMs programme began in 2014 and also plays a crucial role in the fight against poaching.
