TOURISM Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane yesterday urged all social partners to play their part in resuscitating the industry from the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic in a bid to save jobs.
Recent data showed that South Africa's unemployment rate rose to a 13-year high in the first quarter of 2021 amid a second wave of infections and lockdown at the start of the year.
Unemployment ticked up slightly by 0.1 of a percentage point in the first quarter of 2021, from 32.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Kubayi-Ngubane said there was a lot of work needed to be done to get the economy back on track, especially that the most affected societal categories with joblessness were black African women and young people.
She said the slow recovery that the sector was experiencing was another reason for the declining job opportunities.
“The truth is that all social partners have an obligation to intervene to deal with increasing levels of unemployment, otherwise the stability of our democracy and country is under threat,” she said.
“The objectives of the economic and reconstruction recovery plan can only be achieved if all social partners commit to the implementation of what has been agreed to.
“Black business, in particular, has an important role to play in ensuring that economic recovery and reconstruction happens with the expansion and strengthening of a black capitalist class.”
Kubayi-Ngubane was speaking at the opening day of Black Business Council annual summit where she laid bare the devastation caused by the Covid-19 in the domestic tourism sector.
The volume of tourists decreased by 72.6 percent from 10.2 million in 2019 to 2.8m in 2020.
The decline in the number of international arrivals to South Africa also led to the decrease in income from accommodation by 35.9 percent yearon-year in March 2021.
The UNWTO Confidence Index released yesterday showed that globally international tourist arrivals were down 83 percent in the first quarter of 2021 as widespread travel restrictions remained in place, but there were signs of a slow uptick in confidence.
Between January and March 2021 destinations around the world welcomed 180 million fewer international arrivals compared to the first quarter of last year.
Asia and the Pacific continued to suffer the lowest levels of activity with a 94 percent drop in international arrivals over the three-month period. Europe recorded the second largest decline with -83 percent, followed by Africa at -81 percent.
This all followed on from the 73 percent fall in worldwide international tourist arrivals recorded in 2020, making it the worst year on record for the sector.
Kubayi-Ngubane said one of the steps to recovery was the implementation of the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan in partnership with the private sector.
She said the department would defend the Tourism Equity Fund against AfriForum and Solidarity as part of addressing challenges to the transformation of the tourism sector.
The court has interdicted the processing of applications until the case is concluded.
BUSINESS REPORT