Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, MECs and hon members, it is indeed a pleasure for me to rise in this House representing the province and, in particular, the ANC in our province. I would appeal to the members of this House to grant me a moment's nostalgia. My father stood in this House for a period of 20 years representing the then United Party. For 16 of those years he was the leader of the Minority Party in this House. I thank the House for granting me that moment of nostalgia. [Applause.] [Interjections.] Let me add that my late father fortunately did see our new democracy and he fully supported my venture into the ANC. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Latest world tourism trends indicate a preference amongst tourists to meet local people face to face. This trend is particularly exciting for the Free State which has limited physical tourist attractions compared to South Africa's coastal regions. On a recent visit to Europe, I was made very aware of the fact that after being there for a week or two, when one is out in the street all one would like to hear is somebody just saying; ``Hi! It's great to have you here.'' That is how we Free Staters are.
It is a recognised fact in South Africa that the hospitality and warmth of the Free State people have no equal and cannot be beaten. I would particularly like to make reference to our hospitable farm folk, be they workers or owners. I single out the Sesotho and Setswana-speaking Free Staters in particular, who are known for their friendly and spontaneous disposition.
Many urban inhabitants can testify to the pleasurable visits they have enjoyed on Free State farms, whether they are from the ``beskawing'' [civilised places], across the Hex River mountains, coastal dwellers or miners returning to their ancestral environments, they are always made to feel more than welcome.
Overseas visitors are being encouraged to become acquainted with township life by visiting places such as Intabazwe in Harrismith, which shows off an accurate presentation of day-to-day activities.
The previously mentioned aspects make our province ideal for hands-on agritourism and meet-the-people tourism - this my own phraseology. This is something that we have recently identified and instructed the Free State tourism and marketing board to prioritise. We discourage bus drives through townships, which only skims the surface of what the life is really like, and without meeting the people, experiencing the heartbeat of the throbbing environment on a personal level.
The marketing of the Free State to the rest of the world will increasingly be left in the capable hands of Satour. We in the Free State would like to extend our congratulations to Mr Valli Moosa on the quality appointments made to the board of Satour. As a country and a province, we are competing for tourists against other strong economies and democracies backed by hundreds of years' experience in the industry. Although our six-year old democracy is doing well and is striving to normalise the South African society, we are still far from the ideal and the zenith of our goals. During the second half of the twentieth century, when Europe was rebuilding its infrastructure and creating wealth, we in South Africa had a government which was hellbent on dividing our people and squandering the wealth generated by inexpensively mined gold and diamonds, by maintaining 14 parliaments in order to keep up the artificial front. Politicians, however, do not add value with their salaries, but tend to spend their money, and when that dries up, they like to ask for more. To keep the suppressed quiet, Pretoria kept on pouring more and more money into a bottomless pit until the country had virtually bled dry.
In addition, the country got itself dragged into border conflicts under the smoke screen cover of fighting communism.
That minority government controlled by a clique called the Broederbond were only buying more time for themselves to govern at the expense of the wellbeing of all South Africans and developing this country. European countries did not ban communism as we had in South Africa. Instead, some countries such as West Germany successfully built on nationalism and communism to combine capitalism and socialism into a wealthy social welfare state.
This background of a previously-divided South African nation is making it difficult for us to normalise, adequately enough, our society into one nation, which is essential if we are to make a success of people-to-people tourism. Safe tourism means that all communities should be involved, take responsibility and subsequently benefit. The Free State currently has too many white product owners who are hesitant to bring on board new product owners from traditionally disadvantaged communities. There are still too many incidents of tourists being focused on as soft targets by the criminal element. The recent horrendous attack on the Polish couple is such an example, which we should all be decrying. It is only going to be when all citizens are adequately educated about the advantages of the tourist trade for each one of them that these attacks will stop.
Too many of our newly-established tourist forums have a life span of approximately six months before intolerance sets in. Representatives stop attending meetings, and eventually, the forums are steered only by white members. To change the scenario, the Free State has established a link between local government and tourism forums to build capacity and provide accountability for funding and racial issues. These structures, in turn, link up to the provincial tourism department and the Free State tourism marketing board, which in turn links to the national Tourism department and Satour. This constant communication should limit the present costly duplication taking place at those various spheres.
In conclusion, we need specialised actions to create a climate for tourism because of the legacy of the past that divided our nation and sowed mistrust among our people, to the extent that strangers and tourists are not safe in our society. Farm attacks, rape and murder have become everyday occurences. We as Government need to act just as vigorously against these evils as we do in our campaign against HIV-Aids. Let us all motivate our fellow citizens to reclaim the streets from criminals, the highways from horrific evildoers.
Let us teach and educate our brothers and sisters that each tourist is not only a potential job creator, but also an uplifter of our individuality as, in the process of selling our country and our provinces, we ourselves are enhanced by something greater than ourselves - our love and loyalty towards the province and our beloved country. The Free State is determined to address these challenges not next year, but today and now. How? Because we have the support of a caring Government led by the ANC, a people's government. The Free State supports the Minister in his endeavours to promote tourism in South Africa. Finally, I invite all members to visit our friendly, beautiful Free State. Come and experience our friendly, winning smiles. [Applause.]