Tourists cancel plans to visit SA on xenophobic attacks

Sechaba ka’Nkosi

BUSINESSES in South Africa are feeling the wrath of the continuing xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals with the tourism and hospitality industries the hardest hit amid fears of violence.

A leading hotelier in Durban told Business Report that visitors from across the continent had cancelled their plans to visit the country following the widespread violence in which at least six people have been killed, more than 5 000 displaced and shops looted and razed.

“We have people postponing their visits in our hotel because they think the whole of Durban is burning with violence,” Cedric Dlamini of Elangeni Hotel said.

“And the picture that is being painted is even reaching people beyond the continent.”

A tourism official from the Department of Tourism, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had been a flurry of inquiries from potential tourists about the safety of visiting South Africa at the present moment as they were worried they might be affected.

The department expected the number of tourists to South Africa to decline sharply this year because of the attacks.

“We do not think that we will record good numbers this year. We expect the traffic volumes between South Africa and the continent to decline,” the official said.

“We are also concerned that our hotels on the continent may soon become targets for reprisal attacks from people in the affected countries.”

Domino affect

Last week South African companies were threatened with closure in Nigeria, and South African vehicles were pelted with stones in Mozambique.

An official of the newly elected All Progressive Congress told television news channel eNCA that the party and members of civil society groups had demanded that South Africa take swift action against attacks on foreign nationals.

Tolu Adesanya said that Nigeria would shut down South African businesses if the government did not do anything to stop the xenophobic attacks.

“We actually handed a letter to the South African embassy yesterday, making them aware that we are not happy with what is going on in South Africa,” Adesanya said.

“Should there be any more attacks, we are going to shut down South African businesses in Nigeria. That is MTN, MultiChoice, Shoprite etc.”

On Friday Sasol evacuated 340 South Africans from its Mozambique projects over fears for their safety.

Yesterday Business Leadership of South Africa added its voice to the condemnation of the xenophobic attacks, stating that the situation threatened to dampen business confidence in South Africa.

“Beyond the horror that threatens to cast a permanent stain on the conscience of our country, is the disturbing sense of institutional and leadership failure, which ultimately will put further strain on the country’s development goals,” Business Unity SA said.

“This is a national emergency, we must demonstrate that South Africa is defined by good governance, inclusion and socio-economic justice; (that it) is not in free fall. The state must show that it has the will and fortitude to ensure law and order and to defend the constitutional values the president is entrusted and obligated with.”

The Chamber of Mines, which employs a lot of foreign nationals, said while it had not experienced any attacks on its employees, it was worried about the horror of the attacks.

“No chamber member companies have indicated that their workforce has experienced any xenophobic attacks as far as we know,” the chamber’s head of communications, Zingaphi Matanzima, said.

The Institute for Security Studies warned that urgent measures should be put in place to ensure that the situation was contained. The institute’s executive director Jakkie Cilliers told Business Report that the country could suffer far-reaching economic implications as a result of the attacks.

“Leadership at every level of our society, across political parties and other stakeholders should be engaging in a common call and education to counter xenophobia.”