With increased concerns around safety in the Mother City following two incidents involving foreign tourists, the City of Cape Town will roll out its ‘largest-ever’ tourism safety operation ahead of what it says will be a record-breaking holiday season for visitors.
The plan was launched on November 8 with the City’s partners, including the South African Police Service, SANParks, City Improvement Districts, and neighbourhood watches. It also includes a special deployment of Tourism Unit personnel to Table Mountain National Park and the CBD.
Implemented measures
“Our festive season plan is built around public safety and, over time, we’ve expanded the blueprint and our resources to meet the growing demand. Last festive season, our personnel deployed across the metropole executed more than 11 000 operations, working closely with other enforcement and public safety organisations. Operations will be even larger this year, and the expanded tourism unit is but the latest example of identifying and addressing a need, in partnership with other agencies, to improve public safety,” said JP Smith, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security.
Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, James Vos, pointed out that the City was prioritising safety travel advice for visitors, especially in light of concerning incidents of tourists falling victim to crime after inadvertently ending up in hotspots.
“Besides communicating vital safety information with Cape Town Tourism’s extensive member database, the City is also in touch with diplomatic representatives, and is engaging with GPS services on safe route recommendations for travellers moving in and around the metro,” said Vos.
Various safety resources and measures that have been implemented include:
- Home to Africa’s largest CCTV surveillance network of over 3 000 cameras, including public and registered private cameras, Cape Town increasingly uses drones for operations on beaches and around Table Mountain.
- A Metropole Integrated Joint Operational Centre (JOC) will be established at the Traffic Management Centre in Goodwood, co-ordinating with four Area JOCs in different parts of the City, integrated beach JOCs, and the SAPS Command Centre.
- Safety technology that forms part of the City’s major investment of R860m over the next three years will be implemented over the festive season and make use of drones, dashcams, and automatic numberplate recognition.
- To promote highway safety, the City’s newly established highway patrol unit will monitor key routes such as the N2 and R300. The unit hit 1 000 arrests in its first year.
- 4 000 uniformed enforcement and emergency personnel will work in shifts as part of the City’s largest-ever safety deployment over a festive season.
- The City is making a special deployment of 80 personnel for dedicated safety, patrolling tourism routes at Signal Hill, Lion’s Head, Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain trails, the Bo-Kaap, Waterfront, and CBD.
- The TravelWise platform includes up-to-date safety information, practical tips and emergency contact numbers.
- The Namola App is a free safety response app that pinpoints your location and connects travellers to an emergency operator quickly and efficiently.
- The Band-Aid Programme: help for those in distress, including lost travel documents, counselling, and emergency accommodation, laying a charge at SAPS, and contacting banks in the event of bank card fraud. The 24/7 Band-Aid contact number is +27 (0)21 487 6552.
- Visitors can also speak to Cape Town Tourism staff at Cape Town International Airport, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, and City Hall.
“Our ongoing mission is to ensure the safety of all visitors to our shores, including providing the critical resources people need to stay vigilant and travel wisely. We urge special caution for visitors following a GPS. Our TravelWise website outlines crime hotspot zones to alert visitors, and travellers may also contact CTTs 24-hour Emergency WhatsApp line on +27 (0)82 415 7127,” said Cape Town Tourism CEO, Enver Duminy.
National Tourism Safety Forum
Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, has prioritised the issue of tourism safety in collaboration with various public- and private-sector stakeholders – including the Ministry of Police as well as the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), FEDHASA, Barsa, SATOVITO, and SATSA. In May this year, she reviewed the county’s National Tourism Safety Strategy.
“This strategy includes a call to the tourism industry leaders as well as South Africa’s security cluster to collaborate and contribute to bolstering tourism safety and acting fast against acts of criminality that affect the sector’s potential,” said De Lille.
She also established the National Tourism Safety Forum – which comprises a range of stakeholders including the police, the National Department of Tourism, Tourism MECs and the private sector – which meets regularly to discuss progress concerning this plan.
Furthermore, the Department of Tourism has earmarked R174,5 million to train over 2 300 tourism safety monitors in South Africa during this financial year.
The monitors will be deployed to all provinces before the peak summer season starts, to safeguard top tourist attractions and national parks.
“We acknowledge the legitimate concerns that have arisen due to unfortunate incidents involving tourists. We want to provide unequivocal assurance to the public, domestic travellers, and those planning visits to our country in the near future that we are vigorously advancing our efforts to enhance safety for all,” said De Lille.
“Tourism contributes significantly to our provincial economy and job creation, which is why every tourist is precious, and we are appalled by the recent violent attacks. We are working closely with City law enforcement, car-hire companies and role-players responsible for the routes near the airport, as well as key tourist areas,” said Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger.
She commented that all tourism stakeholders in the province took the safety of residents and visitors very seriously, and had mobilised one of the biggest safety campaigns through the Law Enforcement Advancement Programme.
“As we prepare for a busy summer season, in which we are expecting a record-breaking one million inbound international seats via air, we will continue to work hard and allocate resources to keep people in the province safe,” said Wenger.
Industry-wide safety meeting
The government and private sector have intensified efforts to address the issue of tourism safety – highlighted as a key barrier to South Africa’s tourism growth. An industry-wide online meeting on safety and security for the South African tourism industry will be jointly hosted by industry associations and the Department of Tourism today (November 16).
This workshop will provide updates on the initiatives developed and future plans about the burning safety issue in the industry.
