Illustrative image | (Photo: Rawpixel | Shelley Christians) 
With peak tourism season upon us, the private sector has been forced to step in to stem the rising number of attacks on tour buses carrying international visitors in the North West.
A new partnership with the provincial government will hopefully turn around the spate of crime, which entails armed gangs in high-powered cars attempting to force tour buses off the road.
The attacks, believed to be organised from Gauteng, are aimed at tour buses carrying international travellers to Sun City, the Pilanesberg and other destinations in the province. The criminals are after foreign currency, cameras, jewellery, cellphones and other valuables.
In one case, a luxury coach’s front tyres were shot out but the quick-thinking driver not only drove the highwaymen off the road but continued on the destroyed rims to safety.
So far there have been no injuries or deaths due to these attacks in the province; only traumatised tourists, which bodes ill for this key driver for socioeconomic development in South Africa.
Elsewhere, attacks on tourists have resulted in significant injuries and deaths.
In a recent high-profile attack, an eminent American TB researcher, Professor David Russell, was robbed and attacked in Philippi on 27 November. Russell later said he was traumatised, feared for his life and that he doubted he would ever return to South Africa.
On 7 November, an elderly German couple was attacked and robbed along Baden Powell Drive, near the Wolfgat Nature Reserve, while taking photos.
On 10 August, renowned British orthopaedic surgeon Kar Hao Teoh was shot dead in his vehicle, with his family inside, in Nyanga, after Google Maps rerouted them during violent protests.
At a briefing on Wednesday, Lebo Diale, North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism said so far, the province has had three attacks on tour buses.
The first, on 7 October at the Tsitsing junction on the R556 towards Sun City, involved nine Spanish nationals, a driver and a tour operator. In that case, jewellery, watches and money were stolen. A case was opened with the police the following day.
In the second matter, on 24 November, the attack took place between Malokwane and Segwaelane en route to Sun City from Pretoria. A white Audi Q3 tried to force the bus off the road near Lekgalong village, outside Rustenburg.
This incident involved 32 Austrians, a local person and an Austrian tour guide. Nothing was taken as the driver refused to pull over and drove the attackers’ car off the road as they sprayed the coach with bullets.
In the third incident, on 2 December, six Germans, two Poles, a “European”, two Britons and a driver were robbed of euros, bank cards, watches, jewellery and cellphones.
The government, private sector and local community involvement is key to stopping the attacks on tourists, Diale acknowledged.
“We know that what is critical in moving forward is to ensure that everybody in this industry who is involved in receiving or transporting tourists must be aware of this plan. It must be communicated to them so that they know what to do and how to do it, at what time.”
She said the private sector’s helpline will allow the public to communicate incidents or to post their knowledge of threats, so that action can be taken immediately.
Sun City general manager Brett Hoppé, commended the provincial government and said it was incredible to see the effort that has been made to deal with the issue urgently by all departments, from the MEC to the police.
“We have been fairly blessed in the province in that we have not particularly had incidents of this nature to this point, so this necessitated us to develop a plan very quickly. It’s a very powerful example of what can be achieved.”
After the attacks, private sector tourism stakeholders in the Pilanesberg region met on 7 and 11 December to develop a protocol to ensure tour bus safety.
“A protocol has been created whereby all tour operators transporting international coaches that are entering the province via the N4 are predominantly requested to use the N4. If they do use the R556, the province has deployed 35 vehicles which will be escorting operators along that route and others of significance across the province.”
Sun City has also employed tourism hospitality students who will be recording the details of the international tour bus movements through a dedicated email address and WhatsApp number that will subsequently be shared with the police. The information will also assist with intelligence efforts.
“The information will be communicated through the Tourism Business Council of South Africa and the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association, which provides inbound tourism services to operators and other hospitality organisations to be kept informed through daily reports which will be shared by other data collection agents located at Sun City and interface with the National Tourism safety initiative.”
Hoppé said some of the initiatives will remain confidential for now, “but believe me, they’ve taken the challenge enormously seriously”.
“And I’m really pleased to say it is with a great sense of comfort that we enter the season. We’re looking forward to a fantastic season; our occupancies appear to be extremely buoyant.”
The tourism safety and festive season helpline can be contacted at Etelanw@suninternational.com or WhatsApp (text only) on +27 064 859 6795. DM