KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, is expected to inspect renovations at the Margate Airport.
The MEC is expected to inspect the airport which falls under the Ray Nkoyeni Local Municipality on the South Coast on Saturday.
The department has injected R10 million into the renovation of the airport which has created much needed jobs for local communities.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Dube-Ncube said the department is committed to modernising the province’s small airports, not only to allow for an easy flow of passengers and tourists to various corners of the province, but also to make airports attractive destinations for future investments.
As part of Heritage and Tourism Month activation, the MEC said the department will also visit a range of caves at KwaXolo, South Coast.
“This is a must see tourism feature which boast San paintings that are more than 100 000 years old. This is rich heritage and history we are using to stimulate tourism for the benefit of rural communities,” Dube-Ncube said on Friday.
She also pointed out that since the opening up of inter-provincial leisure travel; the department has been inundated with bookings from tourists from across the country.
The MEC said that the department is working with municipalities across the province to ensure that local communities are brought into the mainstream tourism.
“The success of tourism will be judged by how much it is contributing towards our efforts aimed at substantially reducing poverty, inequality and unemployment in our country. More inclusive growth in the tourism sector will assist us enormously in our pledge to address inequality through radical economic transformation,” Dube-Ncube said.
To achieve inclusive growth, the department is ensuring that all spheres of government work towards increasing the number of tourism programmes and projects that are led by, and benefit communities.
“This will lay the foundation for real transformation to take root on the ground.”
Dube-Ncube will be joined by MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Bheki Ntuli and local leadership during the inspection.
Local Government Tourism Capacity Building Programme
Meanwhile, Dube-Ncube said the department is intensifying the roll-out the Local Government Tourism Capacity Building Programme for tourism practitioners and communities.
She said the programme aims to ensure that the province is amongst the top tourist destinations.
“To achieve this vision, we have focused on enhancing our destination by improving infrastructure at various tourism magnets across local municipalities,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za
