Safety & Security

KLCBT and its Local Tourism Organisations maintains an excellent relationship with Law Enforcement Authorities at all levels.

We are represented at:

• Community Police Forum
• POLSEC
• Mpumalanga Tourism Safety Forum
• Ehlanzeni Tourism Safety Forum
• Mpumalanga Tourism Think Tank

Latest news:

1 October 2019: Following on recent criminal activities in the region in which tourists were targeted or were victims, Kruger Lowveld Tourism has been engaging with law enforcement officials in order to ensure that an effective strategy is in place to report incidents of crimes against tourists (as well as any other incident where a tourist, domestic or foreign, is involved and requires assistance).

Last week Linda Grimbeek, COO of KLCBT, together with MTPA’s Tourism Safety Manager, Lindiwe Mthombeni visited numerous police stations in Mpumalanga’s Ehlanzeni District, meeting the station commanders and raising awareness of the value to tourism to the local and national economy amongst SAPS members.  Each police station was provided with posters of the processes to be followed in the event of a crime being perpetrated against a tourist, or should a tourist be involved in an accident.  In several cases, members of the Local Tourism Organisation were invited to join in, meet the local constabulary and encouraged to develop an ongoing working relationship with the local police station.

Kruger Lowveld has been attending quarterly tourism safety forums with the SAPS and Provincial Traffic Department since the beginning of this year, but it is hoped that engagement between LTOs and the local police station may go a long way in developing a stronger relationship in the interests of keeping tourists safe as well as being as effective as possible in the event of tourists being caught up in a traumatic experience while travelling in the region.

Kruger Lowveld / KLCBT has also been engaging with law enforcement to ensure that previous cases involving tourists are followed up on and that arrests are made.  It is through the efforts of this organisation that a reward has been raised which will hopefully lead to the arrest and successful conviction of the perpetrators of the horrific rape of a tourist in the region.  We also continue to pressurise the police to increase visibility on roads where tourists have been attacked as well as to vigorously pursue all leads in the hope that the perpetrators will be apprehended and successfully prosecuted.

While there has been a noticeable decline in reports of roadside corruption by traffic officials, we encourage members to continue to share the anti-corruption cards with their guests.

Should you require additional information on our tourism safety initiatives or wish to get involved in supporting tourists in distress within your area, please contact Tom Vorster website@krugerlowveld.com  

Current projects:

• Roll out information to tourism industry and police stations regarding procedures to be followed in the event where tourists are victims of a crime in order to lend them the best support and contact the correct people to assist.
• CCTV Cameras for Nelspruit CBD and to connect the CCTV cameras on one central system
• Hazyview is currently raising funds for CCTV cameras in the CBD.
• Hazyview working to get the hawkers stand to a safer but suitable position – several accidents and even fatalities happened as a result of road accidents involving also the hawkers because they are at a dangerous spot next to the main road.
• Various WhatsApp Groups share information in the tourism industry about roads and places to avoid due to protest action or accidents, or any information that should be distributed instantly.

Previous achievements:

• Numerous protests were dissolved because of the intervention of the KLCBT.  Our task is to bring the right people together and encourage meaningful engagement to result in realistic deliverables to satisfy the protesting parties.  Unfortunately it is not always that simple…
• The recent establishment of the Mpumalanga Tourism Think Tank is an achievement in itself.  For the first time representatives of Province in tourism, infrastructure and law enforcement met with top minds of the private sector.  The inception of the Think Tank was because of ongoing protests and how to manage the situation the best and how to maintain a positive image of the region.
• Through the work of the Tourism Safety Ambassadors (a programme by Ehlanzeni District Municipality and Hazyview Chamber of Business and Tourism), and a crime liaison officer paid for by donations raised from the Hazyview Community, the safety conditions for tourists in and around Hazyview saw a vast improvement.  This project was initiated at a time (a few years ago) where there were several attacks on tourists and tourism establishments.
• KLCBT assisted in raising funds for the outfitting of the staff facilities at the 10111 call centre in White River.  Because staff has to be checked in through strict security upon arrival, they cannot leave any time during their shift and therefore needed comfortable staff facilities to take breaks without leaving the secure environment.

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