There is an opportunity for all relevant industry parties to collaborate and address some of the fundamental flaws in the Tourism Equity Fund (TEF) before waiting for the pending court case to be resolved.
This will ensure that the TEF properly meets its stated objectives of promoting the participation of black South Africans as owners of the country’s tourism assets without further delay, says economic development specialist, Paul Zille.
He has therefore issued a clarion call to all Tourism Update readers to respond to his opinion piece (loaded on TU last Wednesday, June 23) and provide their own insights, debates and solutions to this issue.
This can be done by commenting on the column or this article or by sending opinions directly to Tourism Update (email: adelem@nowmedia.co.za).
The TEF has been on hold for two months now due to a court case brought against its implementation by lobby group Afriforum and trade union Solidarity.
The R1.2 billion (€70.8m) TEF was launched in January by the Department of Tourism to provide a new financial support mechanism to stimulate investment and transformation in the tourism sector, providing a combination of debt finance and grant funding to facilitate equity acquisition as well as new project development, to broaden participation by all South Africans and not just a few dominant players.
Zille points out that the fact that the TEF is on hold is a disaster for the industry at a time when depleted tourism businesses desperately need to invest in preparations for the return of global tourism.
“For many, this includes exploring shared ownership partnerships of different kinds involving black staff, partners and suppliers – necessary arrangements that have historically been unaffordable,” he writes in the op-ed piece.
Yet the legal impasse also provides a good opportunity for the tourism sector to collaborate to address the fundamental flaws in the fund – which Zille outlines in the op-ed piece – “with minimum further delay”.
