South Africa beefs up R175 million ‘tourist protection squad’

As the festive season fast approaches and tourists are set to crisscross the lengths and breadths of South Africa, there have been mixed reactions about a R175 million program aimed at protecting tourists against crime.

Some argue that the tourism safety program is expensive and ineffective due to a lack of monitor retention, while others strongly disagree and support its possible contribution to crime reduction and job training benefits.

Tourism is a critical component of South Africa’s economy.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the industry contributed 8.2% to the country’s GDP and employed 1.46 million people in 2023, with that number expected to grow to 1.7 million in 2024.

“Despite its impressive contribution to the South African economy, the tourism sector lags behind relative to its potential,” said Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille at the recent conclusion of the Tourism Policy Review.

A major inhibitor of the sector reaching its full potential is South Africa’s soaring crime rates, which has led to public perceptions, both locally and abroad, being tainted.

In response, the Department of Tourism (DoT) launched a National Tourism Safety Strategy.

It is implemented by the National Tourism Safety Forum, which involves numerous stakeholders including the SAPS, NPA, government and the private sector.

Safety and security are the primary mandate of the police, but the Department said that in order to address crime as a sector, an ‘all hands on deck’ approach is needed.

“We regret any acts of crime against tourists, and we are working together with the private sector and all spheres of government to address this matter,” said the Department of Tourism’s spokesperson Tasneem Carrim.

A central component of their crime alleviation strategy is the Department’s R174.5 million investment in training and deploying “tourism monitors to enhance tourism safety at key tourist attractions across the country.”

This has been a widely debated intervention, that has trained 4,132 safety monitors between 2020 and 2023..

Very broadly, tourism monitors are deployed to key attractions for experiential training, supervised by host establishments, aimed at enhancing safety awareness at key tourism attractions and reducing crime incidents targeting tourists.

There are currently 2,106 monitors spread out across the nation:

For the 2024/25 financial year, 2,305 have been approved to be deployed.

They receive training through the Tourism Monitors Learning Programme, an initiative under the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

Carrim said they also undertake a security course leading to a National Certificate in General Security (NQF level 3), which the Department said exposes them to work opportunities in the safety and security industry afterwards.

The programme provides individuals with stipends (paid by the department) and is said to prepare them for future employment, as they are not retained beyond the 12-month training period.

The lack of retention of these monitors has been a key point of contention.

Democratic Alliance MP Elmarie Linde said that “the Department allocates large amounts to train safety monitors… without retaining recruits. The question is – why then have this program if we don’t retain the students to do a job for which they have been trained?”

“The Tourism Safety Monitors Program is one meant to enhance tourists’ experiences in promoting safety, but the training is not focused on safety.

“This is merely a government program that attempts to train people and hopefully create jobs.

“One should refer to them as Tourism Ambassadors rather than Tourism Safety Monitors,” if not further trained and retained, she added.

The Department disagrees with the notion that they are trained in being “ambassadors,” saying that their responsibilities are rooted in safety. Their training and duties include:

• Patrolling sites;
• Guiding tourists on safe practices;
• Reporting crimes to the police;
• Providing emergency assistance; and
• Deterring crime through their visible presence.

When asked about the retention (or lack thereof) of monitors, Carrim said that the Tourism Monitors Programme is implemented as part of the EPWP, which has a specific timeframe for training and exiting learners from the programme.

“The EPWP specifies the time period within which learners are to be trained and exited from the Programme [and] the idea of not retaining learners for a longer period is intended to provide as many learners as possible to be taken through and benefit,” said Carrim.

While the Department admits that it does not directly employ the monitors after their training, it said that it encourages the private sector, particularly those in the tourism and security industries, to consider them for permanent positions

It “exposes tourism monitors for long-term employability in host establishments where they are deployed,” said Carrim.

The Departmental spokesperson said security training for tourism monitors opens up job opportunities in the safety and security industry.

Carrim said that many trainees register with PSIRA during the course to pursue private security jobs, and experience with the programme could help.

Another concern raised by Linde came when Minister de Lille stated in a Parliamentary response that no surveys are conducted on the experiences of monitors, nor are surveys done on visitors’ experiences pertaining to these safety monitors.

“This is concerning, as we keep on training tourism safety monitors year on year, without seeing any [quantitative] results,” said Linde.

In response, the Department said that it tracks the progress of the safety program during monthly visits to tourist sites.

She said that they “have not picked up serious incidents of crime, thus indicating that the presence of tourism monitors in those establishments is helping dissuade criminal activities.”

Going forward

Overall, Linde believes that this could be an effective intervention, but urged de Lille to do impact studies, as well as retain trained tourism monitors and deploy them in appropriate roles as needed.

“It is our fundamental responsibility to create real, sustainable jobs and opportunities for all. We also have a responsibility to keep national and international tourists safe, let us do it properly,” said Linde.

Carrim said that improving tourism safety requires following the action steps outlined in the White Paper.

“The Tourism White Paper focuses on promoting safety and security, facilitating ease of access, domestic tourism, crisis management, promoting transformation, enabling technological developments, and recommitting to the responsible tourism agenda,” said de Lille in the forward of the White Paper.

“We have also engaged the diplomatic community – local and international missions to share our Tourism Safety Strategy with all countries,” said Carrim.

Read: The top 5 most visited tourist attractions in South Africa