South Africa
Dept of Tourism receives over 9,000 applications for relief fund─── 12:00 Mon, 27 Apr 2020
The Department of Tourism on Sunday said the processing of applications for the sector's relief fund had been overwhelming.
Government is offering business owners in the tourism industry relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The department said it had received more than 9,000 complete and incomplete applications from businesses including tour guides, restaurants, travel agencies and B&Bs.
Applications for the fund, which awards businesses a grant capped at R50,000, closes on 31 May.
For businesses to qualify for funding, they should be BEE compliant and have a tax clearance certificate.
But the granting of funds has been put on ice as AfriForum and trade union Solidarity take the department to court for allegedly having discriminatory criteria for the awarding of the fund.
The matter is expected to be heard in court on Tuesday.
