Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, the Director-General of the Department of Tourism and the entourage, Members of Parliament, one of the immediate priorities of the ANC-led government when it came to power in 1994 was to redress the imbalances of the past and, in particular, to improve the livelihood of the poor.
There is a dire need for a drive towards increasing economic participation by the historically marginalised, with the tourism sector having much to gain from transforming itself and from the benefits of this transformation. Then, certainly, one of the objectives of the Budget Vote is to do more to develop tourism in rural areas as a way of dispersing the benefits of tourism and increasing its antipoverty impact.
If more tourism can be developed in rural areas, particularly in ways that involve high local participation by women in decisions and enterprises, especially in small-scale operations and culturally based or farm-based products, antipoverty impacts will be enhanced. In this regard, I cannot fail to mention Ms Judy Stuart, who was nominated for the 2012 Woman of the Year for a seven-year-old Future Farmer project, which provides a platform for young people in agriculture and farming to become successful commercial farm managers or farmers in their own right.
Dairy farming has traditionally not been an attractive industry for rural and impoverished communities. But, with this apprenticeship project, Ms Stuart has made inroads into the communities by mentoring young people for a future in the dairy farming industry.
South Africa's top tourism destinations, including national parks, wilderness areas, mountains, lakes and cultural sites, are generally located in rural areas. Thus, tourism is already an important feature of the rural economy in these specific sites. The aim of promoting tourism is to increase the net benefits to the rural people and increase their participation in managing the tourism products. A number of key tourist attractions such as the Mapungubwe National Park located in rural areas are not receiving the benefits stemming from the tourism industry, and the limited involvement of local communities is a major constraint in developing tourism in rural areas. There are establishments that are white elephants because communities were never trained and mentored on how to maintain their establishments. Minister, what mechanisms have you put in place to ensure that communities are provided with the necessary support to sustain their businesses?
The 2012 Rural Tourism Strategy aims to address the following objectives: to create a platform to the share knowledge of best practice, development opportunities and challenges in rural areas for tourism development; to facilitate the co-ordination of rural tourism development initiatives amongst relevant stakeholders; to create an enabling environment for rural tourism development to stimulate job creation; to identify and recommend strategic areas/nodes for tourism development in rural areas within the sector; and to guide strategy development within key documentation generated for tourism development and management in South Africa.
The hon Minister has also identified the inadequate resourcing and funding of tourism in rural areas as one of the problem areas hampering rural tourism development. Although Budget Vote No 35 makes provision for domestic tourism to the tune of R369,8 million for the present fiscal year, no specific amount is earmarked for the purpose of rural tourism.
It is known that the Department of Tourism's poverty relief projects promote the development of community-owned tourism products and infrastructure development, capacity-building and training, the establishment of small, medium and micro enterprises, SMMEs, and business development projects. However, one would still like to see that rural tourism has appropriated specific amounts and performance indicators on an annual basis.
Rural tourism is primarily aimed at tourists who are encouraged to explore the route and its offerings in their own vehicles. Most secondary rural roads to these destinations are gravel roads which, when well maintained, add to the whole experience of travelling to a rural area. However, if gravel roads are not maintained, they become a liability to tourism as potential visitors are diverted away from the area by the state of the roads, especially in deep rural areas.
With the introduction of the outcomes-based approach, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform revised its 2010-13 Strategic Plan to take into account the need to create vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities. The outcome is linked to, amongst others, improved rural services to support sustainable livelihoods; rural job creation linked to skills training and promoting economic livelihoods; and an enabling institutional environment for sustainable and improved growth.
The ANC-led government recognises the vital role of the tourism sector's potential to bring about economic growth and employment creation. It is, therefore, encouraging that the hon Minister of Tourism recently said that community beneficiation is at the heart of the National Rural Tourism Strategy. He also said that an emphasis of the strategy is the understanding that the development of rural tourism can make a powerful contribution to poverty alleviation in areas that are often characterised by poverty and underdevelopment.
The strategy is an endorsement of the Department of Tourism's commitment to the development of rural communities in general and to rural tourism in particular. The ANC supports Budget Vote No 35. I thank you. [Applause.]