Chairperson, the good thing you may do is a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less if that drop were missing. That is why when tourists visit any country they want to know and see places of interest, or places of national importance. They want to know the history of each and every place they are taken to.
This Bill creates a climate conducive to tourist guides being formally recognised by the Government. They are the people who are expected to market our country to tourists, people who are not going to distort the history of this country. As members are aware, people and rubber bands have one thing in common - they must be stretched to be effective. [Laughter.]
It is therefore imperative to have tourist guides who will effectively put our country on the map. We have had tourist guides before, some trained others not, some registered others not, some, regardless of their knowledge, capability, capacity and skill, not properly graded, whilst others were graded Why? It was simply because of the colour of their skin. As Government we are saying: If things go wrong, do not go with them. Hence, with this piece of legislation all criteria used to sideline or disadvantage tourist guides will cease to exist. If one does not want one's dream to come true, it is easy; one just has to oversleep. [Laughter.]
There will now be a National Registrar of Tourist Guides who will maintain a central database of all tourist guides. The National Registrar of Tourist Guides will also hear appeals lodged by tourist guides.
This Bill also establishes provincial registrars of tourist guides. These officials will register all tourist guides in their respective provinces and take all the necessary steps to ensure the smooth running of this industry. It is pleasing to know that companies or institutions which are involved in tourism will, from now on, be closely monitored.
There are some companies and institutions that deliberately do not want tourists to know the true facts about our country. They do not take tourists to places of national importance situated in rural areas and they rarely use tourist guides from disadvantaged communities. They use people who know very little about our country.
To give a practical example, we met tourists from Brussels who told us that when they first visited our country in 1990, they were told that the only thing they could learn about the Northern Province was witchcraft. The guides could not tell them about the Soutpansberg, where one gets natural salt. They could not tell them about TshipiseTsha Shagole in the far north, where one finds not only warm water, but natural hot water, from the fountain. Neither could they tell them about Maphukubje or the Chuene, nor the Debegeni Falls and many other places of interest. The only things the tourist guides could tell those tourists about the Northern Province was how people in that province excelled in witchcraft. [Laughter.]
Hence, as Government, we are saying that a team will outperform a group of dishonest individuals every time. Those same tourists were also told that the only things one could learn about some rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal were political violence and faction fighting. They could not tell them about the Isandlwana battlefields or about Kwadukuza, where Shaka's grave is. Life is not a dress rehearsal. It is not the sugar that makes the tea sweet, but the stirring. [Laughter.]
This industry will now be well co-ordinated, regulated, and monitored. Tourist guides will now be trained, registered and recognised for who they are. It will also be expected of them to adhere to the code of conduct drawn up by the National Registrar of Tourist Guides. If it is found that a particular tourist guide has violated any of the regulations in this Act, corrective measures or disciplinary action will be taken against him or her.
This will be done to protect the image and integrity of this country and to make sure that our tourists are well looked after and protected. It will now be an offence for anyone to act as a tourist guide if he or she is not registered.
I would like to thank the hon the Minister and his department for coming up with this excellent piece of legislation. I want to say to the hon the Minister that he is one of the few leaders who lead by example. No matter what the size of the bottle, the cream will always come to the top. [Laughter.] [Applause.] The hon the Minister is one of those wise leaders who inspires and motivates rather than intimidates and manipulates. [Time expired.] [Applause.]