The team, established by the provincial Department of Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Destea) last week heard, that the tourism industry needs speedy intervention to ensure its revival once lockdown is fully lifted and the spread of the coronavirus in South Africa is under control. 

While the multi-stakeholder task team has indicated that it is ready to tackle all the issues at hand, including assisting small businesses to survive this pandemic, there is no mention whether the tourism industry in the province will be prioritised ahead of others to receive relief, in light of the most recent developments. 

The observation made by the task team is evidenced by the closure of long-standing Sun International establishments in central South Africa. 

Three weeks ago, the hospitality giant announced it was closing the Carousel Hotel and Casino in Moretele in the North West and Naledi Sun in Thaba’ Nchu in the Free State. Both hotels were located in areas that previously fell under the former Bophuthatswana Bantu homeland pre-1994. The closure of the Naledi Sun Hotel will reportedly result in the retrenchment of 66 employees from the Thaba Nchu/Botshabelo area. 

Sun International has attributed the decision to financial constraints caused by reduced gambling activities as well as a weakened economy which has been further exacerbated by the coronavirus lockdown, currently at level four. The newly established task team made up of representatives from different chambers of business, government departments and the South African Local Government Association (Salga) makes no mention of these significant closures in their update.

It is acknowledged that all tourism roleplayers have been affected by the absence of movement in the province. These include tour guides, operators, and hospitality, leisure and accommodation roleplayers. Destea says the business relief team was established “to provide a platform for the exchange of views on the impact and response to the pandemic on Free State businesses”. They also intend on identifying some of the gaps in government relief programmes and will coordinate these programmes to assist as many small businesses as they can.

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