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Date
: 19/03/2004
Source: North West Provincial Government
Title: P Molefe: Launch of North West Parks & Tourism Board
office
SPEECH BY NORTH WEST PREMIER, DR POPO SIMON MOLEFE, ON THE OCCASION
OF THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW NORTH WEST PARKS AND TOURISM BOARD HEAD
OFFICE, MAFIKENG, 19 March 2004
Programme Director
MEC Modiselle
The Chairperson of the North West Parks and Tourism Board, Ms Sybil
Matlou
Members of the Board
The Chief Executive Officer of the North West Parks and Tourism
Board, Mr Charles Ndabeni
Representatives from the Tourism Industry
Honoured Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to be part of this historic event where
we are launching the new home of the North West Parks and Tourism
Board.
We wish to applaud the Board for their decision to keep their Head
Office in Mafikeng. There is no doubt that this move will further
enhance efforts to build confidence in the City of Mafikeng and
will contribute towards the revival of the city.
We are indeed grateful to the Board for taking this bold and
visionary decision. By taking this decision the Board has
demonstrated that as government and all our institutions were are
committed, both in word and deed, to the objective of rebuilding
the City of Mafikeng.
Since its establishment, the North West Parks and Tourism Board has
been a major driver of our efforts to unleash the tourism potential
of our province.
As a result of the good work by the Board over the years, the North
West Province has entrenched its position as South Africa's
preferred heritage destination.
The Board has been untiring in its efforts to expose our province's
unique heritage sites including the Taung Heritage site, the
heritage route, and the Magaliesburg hominid deposits.
These sites, which are the pride of our province, have added to the
growing evidence that; indeed, Africa is the cradle of
mankind.
The Board continues to market with distinction, both locally and
internationally, our tourism icons such as the Sun City Complex,
the Pilanesberg National Park, the Madikwe Game Reserve and
Hartbeespoort Dam.
It is largely because of the work of the North West Parks and
Tourism Board that these icons continue to grow in stature as more
and more tourists discover them.
The results of the work done by the Board can be clearly seen from
the growing number of jobs created in the tourism industry.
Figures at our disposal indicate that during 1997 the tourism
industry in the North West Province created and sustained over 44
000 jobs. This number increased impressively to over 69 000 in
2002.
Furthermore, in 2002 alone, international visitor arrivals injected
a massive R3,5 billion into the provincial economy.
The Board's efforts to broaden access to opportunities in tourism
industry are worth applauding. We are encouraged by the work done
by the Board in facilitating the participation of small, medium and
micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the tourism industry.
We note with appreciation the fact that through various
interventions, the Board has managed to increase the number of
SMMEs in the North West database from just three in the year 2 000
to 56 in 2003.
Equally, we draw great courage from the strides the Board is making
in promoting broad based economic empowerment. Communities living
in and around our game parks and game reserves are starting to reap
benefits from empowerment opportunities made possible by
progressive strategies adopted by the Board.
An example of such strategies is the concession for the management
and development of the Moretele and Phudufudu Camps in the
Borakalalo Game Reserves, which was awarded to the Uniteam women's
empowerment consortium.
We wish to applaud the Board and the Department of Economic
Development and Tourism for their efforts in ensuring that the
benefits of the tourism are shared equally among all.
Through their work, they are in giving practical meaning to the
Setswana saying that "Moeng goroga re je!"
We hope that the Board will continue, in partnership with all
stakeholders, to make a contribution towards improving the quality
of life of our people through spreading the benefits of
tourism.
In particular, we are confident that, guided by its own Tourism
Master Plan, the Board's work to unleash the tourism potential of
our province will be pursued with even more vigour and
determination.
As government we will continue to support the Board in all its
endeavours. This we will do because we are looking forward to the
Board's continued success.
I thank you!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial
Government
19 March 2004
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