Stakeholders in the South African tourism industry have told President Cyril Ramaphosa the industry could lose up to 600 000 jobs by September, if Covid-19 lockdown regulations continue to prevent it from operating.
Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane told News24 that many in the sector were struggling, with those in the informal sector, such as tour guides, being left in distress by the pandemic and the lockdown. “A lot of the informal sectors aren’t covered and are seriously in distress and won’t get part of the relief fund and won’t get UIF . It’s difficult because we want to help everyone, we want to support everyone but the money that we have is too little,” she told News24.
The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni and Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who she said committed to support her portfolio in aiding the industry to find its feet. “We have to be practical, all of us as colleagues in Cabinet. If we asked for money to do marketing while there is no money for PPEs , can we justify this in the public domain?” she said.
“He said we needed to look at our employees as a sector. In mining, they are able to isolate cases, screen, test and then isolate affected people. The president said considerations were needed on how employees who got affected would be assisted,” she explained.