Chairperson, the beauty of the attractions of the North West is unquestionable. The people are wonderful, the wild life boasts some of the biggest elephants, and the scenery in some areas leaves one with a sense of harmony and balance.
However, there are a number of challenges, some of which are obstacles to the development of tourism. For instance, the N12 in some areas is beyond repair. The issue of equitable share appears to strangle provinces that are extensive, sparsely populated and that had large Bantustans when we had to labour under apartheid. Investment in infrastructure and investment in basic needs were not catered for.
We believe that their share should be in line with the deprivation they suffered under apartheid for them to meet their great challenges with regard to infrastructure and human resources. It seems that we did not take into account that there were provinces that were deprived by the Bantustan system that we had for a long time under apartheid.
The biggest challenge appears to be a lack of alignment between the three spheres of government. The recommendations we make are in response to the conditions of main roads in particular and the infrastructure, some of which has been allowed to decay.
The advantage of the province of the North West, however, is that people and entrepreneurs still have hope and still trust that the future will be better tomorrow than it was in the past.
We have pleasure in tabling this report on our oversight visit to the North West. We now come to Gauteng. The province is in an advantageous position in terms of its location and world-class infrastructure. We met with the provincial government and stakeholders in the private sector, and visited some of the attractions. We were of the view that some of the attractions like the Vaal were not adequately promoted as attractions and as experiences by SA Tourism.
We had an interaction with entrepreneurs from Soweto and they have raised their concerns, which are reflected in the report. Entrepreneurs in Ekurhuleni complained about frequent power failures and red tape that caused unnecessary delays by the municipality and that hindered the performance of their businesses.
There appears to be a confusion of roles between some local and district municipalities, poor support for small, medium and micro enterprises, nonalignment of training with industry needs, a shortage of electricity and delays in the issuing of transport operating permits. We believe that these are governance issues that the municipality and the province can attend to, as they have the required resources and capacities. The committee believes that an improvement in governance would eliminate many of the problems in the province.
There are common challenges that are listed in the report on the North West and Gauteng provinces. However, we believe that the basics, the background and the initial steps towards success are there, but we have to face the future with much more energy and better governance in Gauteng.
We have pleasure in tabling this report as the Portfolio Committee on Tourism. I thank you. [Applause.]