|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Speech at the Tourism@Work launch
2008 State of the City Address presented by the Honourable Executive Mayor of Mogale City, Clr. Koketso Calvin Seerane of the Mogale City Local Municipality held at the Centenary Hall, Krugersdorp Civic Centre, Mogale City
Madam Speaker: Councilor Noluthando Mangole; INTRODUCTION
Programme Director today marks an achievement of a well-thought out vision. It marks the fulfilment of one of the key pillars of our focused drive to improve the lives of the people of our city in particular, and indeed of the people of our country in general.
On the occasion of our State of the City address of March 14 2007 we said partly: “… We will work together with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that our local tourism establishments are graded and have proper signage to facilitate the smooth flow of tourism into the area. Resources will be mobilized to initiate tourism route developments in the area including the development of an integrated tourism information directory. We will participate in various tourism promotional events and campaigns with a view to promote Mogale City as a preferred international and domestic tourism destination. We will also assist our non hotel establishments for them to be compliant to MATCH criteria, the organization mandated by FIFA to co-ordinate the accommodation and ticketing for the 2010 Soccer WORLD Cup.”
We continued in our State of the City address of 04 April 2008 to say in part: “We have engaged a number of entities in our drive to achieve our local economic development objectives. These include the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller on establishing training interventions; the Gauteng Tourism Authority on the launch of the Mogale City Tourism Advisory Council (which we successfully launched earlier this year); and Tourism@Work to develop ICT Tourism infrastructure for the benefit of the domestic tourism market, just to name a few.”
This launch forms a major part of our stated intentions as mentioned above. It gives us great pleasure to be part of this initiative, more so that it is being launched in our city. As we all know, this is the City of Human Origin. It is only in order to have ground-breaking initiatives get blessings from our common ancestors as humanity. We salute those who had the foresight to recognise this.
As a geographical area Mogale City is set for tourism, with its historic, cultural and artistic diversity. Anthropologists and pre-historians throughout the world agree that the Sterkfontein caves are one of the most important scientific sites connected to the history of human evolution in South Africa and the world.
This prehistoric site has led to the development of Maropeng, the visitor centre of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. In addition to this tourist attraction Mogale City boasts its own 1400 hectare game reserve, hiking, caving, the Magalies Meander, guesthouses, hot air ballooning, all set amongst the mountains, hills and scenic valleys of Magaliesberg.
Being in this positively unique position Programme Director, there is no doubt that we are in need of initiatives that will provide fertile ground to revolutionize the quality and relevance of the skills and knowledge of a vast number of people, and equip them with the sustainable competencies and qualifications for mainstream economic activities. We are also in no doubt that actualising this vision within the context of this and other initiatives requires the collaborative financial and human intellectual commitment of a diverse range of players. We note these points because we have always and will continue to pledge our commitment to their achievement.
The Hourable Deputy Minister Mabhudafasi was quoted at the Media Launch of the National Tourism Career Expo in Durban on August 12 2008 emphasising the fact that that Expo served as a platform to encourage school learners, students and unemployed youth to pursue a career in tourism. The Deputy Minister continued to say that ‘even though the tourism sector is one of the largest and most diverse industries in the world, it remains a largely untapped sector when it comes to attracting young individuals to choose it as a career.’
Deputy Minister we agree with you. In fact, we think that this applies not only to youth, but to many other sections of our society, particularly those from previously disadvantaged groups. This is really what makes this industry so crucial. There is a lot of space for us to improve the lives of many of our people through it.
Around the world, tourism is becoming increasingly popular, as both domestic and international visitors flock to the most attractive places, including our beautiful country. Necessarily, we must receive this growth both with enthusiasm and concern. Tourism can generate much-needed revenue for local and regional economies, increase local awareness of the importance of biodiversity conservation, and provide new incentives for governments and dwellers in and around appealing natural areas to preserve them.
But Programme Director we must also be aware of the many dangers that poorly managed or uncontrolled tourism poses for the environment, the culture and the societies. It is only tourism that is respectful of the environment and the well-being of local and indigenous people that should be encouraged and promoted. This played a major role in our decision to enter into this partnership with Tourism@work.
Through Tourism@work, we will be able to meet each of these requirements. Tourism@work is based on well-founded principles and clear guidelines for the active involvement of host communities, local planners, developers and private entrepreneurs. These are all necessary ingredients to achieve overall success. It is also guided by an in-depth and grass roots research of the overall domestic industry, as well as the socio-economic and environmental impacts of visitors, and the development of appropriate local, national and regional tourism strategies.
Tourism@work recognises that despite its potential to create development and jobs, tourism will not work for our country if communities do not benefit from this impact and the future growth of the industry. It notes the socio-cultural impact, the economic impact as well as the ecological impact.
As a municipality, Programme Director, we have always declared that partnerships are a necessary and crucial part of our winning formula. We are therefore pleased to welcome Tourism@work into our panel of distinguished partners. We are particularly pleased that Deputy Minister Mabhudafasi saw it fit to align herself with us in this initiative. We are incredibly proud to be chosen for such an initiative.
I am reliably informed that it will take eight (8) months to get the concept up and running. This launch sets the balling rolling. As Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela once said, vision without action is merely dreaming. Action with no vision is just passing time. But with vision and action you can change the world.
On behalf of the municipality and the people of Mogale City, I welcome everyone to our beautiful city and to this launch. As a municipality we also offer our full support to the Tourism@work initiative. As the theme goes: Unlocking the second economy in the South African Tourism Industry. We are fully behind this.
Mogale City opens its doors!
I thank you.
|
Mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Web development by  |
