Concerns about US travel advisory

A recent update to the US Travel Advisory issued by the US Dept of State on 27 May 2025, left the tourism industry with concern.  South Africa has been painted as an unsafe country and by default an   unsafe destination, since the President’s meeting with the White House. 

As the tourism industry in the Lowveld, we had to overcome many serious issues, including a real threat of crime which damaged our tourism industry for a number of years.  Since the implementation of various initiatives, we can proudly announce today that we had a full 8 months of zero incidents against tourists, and a full 2 1/2 years of no incidents against tourists on the Numbi Road.  This follows the implementation of three phases of the integrated security plan for the district, initiated and led by KLCBT. 

It involves patrols, many cameras, a team of investigators and      intelligence officers and now finally a central dispatch centre working with the E2 control room.  We are currently fund-raising for the full implementation of the third phase and will talk about that later.  Meanwhile we have our own Tourism Emergency Line, widely     publicized and co-funded by MTPA, where volunteers are dispatched to act as the family member of a tourist in distress.  This remarkable programme led to great  positive publicity when tourists went back home, instead of talking about the bad incident.  Thankfully, the line had only calls about accidents, flat tyres and arrested tourists, yes that happens!, in recent months. 

Please direct all concerned to our safety tips for safe travels and share the help-line number of 066 3000 991.  Please do not hesitate to direct any concerns or enquiries from agents and potential guests to us.