Cabinet condemns robbery of Dutch tourists
Cabinet has condemned the recent robbery of tourists from the Netherlands and has called on the police to do "whatever it can" to apprehend the criminals.
"Cabinet appeals to the public to come forward with any information that may assist law-enforcement authorities, and calls for the full might of the law to be applied to those found guilty," reads the statement released on Friday, following Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.
On Sunday, a group of 36 Dutch tourists were robbed in Fourways, Johannesburg, just after arriving in the country. While en route to their accommodation, a man in a police uniform and in a police car stopped the bus. The five other suspects were dressed in civilian clothing.
"All South Africans should condemn such crimes which threaten our ever growing tourism sector," Cabinet said.
In the same statement, mention was also made of Tourism Minister Tokozile Xasa's participation in World Tourism Day on Wednesday, a day after the Dutch tourists cut short their planned 22-day stay to leave the country.
"South Africa has been successful in promoting tourism through its various attractive facilities such as our parks, blue flag beaches, and the world accredited heritage sites.
"Tourism's labour absorption capacity remains a great weapon against unemployment. As a tourist destination, South Africa faces the prospects of growing its transversal tourism sectors to enable massive economic potential through the so-called traditional dominant tourism economic sectors. These include rural, medical, agro and cultural tourism."