Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism
- Whether any support is being provided to (a) township-based small businesses, (b) informal traders and (c) local tourism enterprises; if not, why not; if so, (i) how many businesses have benefitted from such support, (ii) in which townships are these programmes being implemented and (iii) what measures are in place to ensure that these initiatives contribute to sustainable job creation;
- whether his Department has conducted any assessment of the impact of crime on tourism in the province, particularly in Cape Town; if not, why not; if so, (a) when was the assessment conducted and (b) what were the key findings?
(1) (c) Programme 6 provides support to local tourism enterprises through its various initiatives, which include funding, webinars, events and training. The performance information of the Department is still being verified and audited for 2025/2026, however, 8 projects received funding through the Tourism Growth Fund, more than 100 tourist guides benefited from training initiatives, and more than 100 businesses/startups and other organisations participated in webinars and training. The Department tracks information with respect to priority groups and will report on this data in its annual report.
(a) The Department joined with various municipalities and Departments hosted Supplier Open Days in areas such as Kwanonqaba (Mossel Bay), Pacaltsdorp (George) Stellenbosch, Malmesbury, Langebaan, and Plettenberg Bay. The events provided a platform that focused on integrating businesses into formal procurement systems through showcasing procurement opportunities and dealing with systemic barriers to their participation. The sessions aimed to (i) help businesses understand compliance (ii) how to register on public procurement databases and transact with government (iii) learn about available economic opportunities and (iv) access to related public sector services.
(2) The Department does not have the resources to conduct in-depth primary research on the impacts of crime on tourism. It should also be noted that the South African Police Service does not publish crime data by nationality. However, the data the Department has access to was presented to the Standing Committee on the 12th of November 2025 during the season readiness briefing. No new data or research has been published since then.
