Police refuse to accomapany tourist buses

By Tarryn Le Chat
1 December 2006

Despite three seperate attacks on tourists this week, provincial police commissioner Mzwandile Petros said police will not accompany tourists visiting the city as this will send the wrong message about the country.

In Langa, two groups of tourists were robbed earlier this week. Two seperate incidents oocured in Sea Point and again in Langa, where the tourists personal belongings were stolen and two tourists suffered injuries as a result.

The incidents have prompted the City of Cape Town to ask the police to accompany touring parties. The Democratic Allaince (DA) has also called on national government to look into the issue.

Petros said that police escorts would not be beneficial to the tourism industry and the country's image, "It's difficult for our people (police) to follow these patterns of crime. If we send officials to escort tourists we will be sending another message, a message that our townships are not the place to be."

Petros, however, stated that police were committed to the safety of tourists, and that visitors would be protected as part of the Intergrated Safer Festive Season programme.

The DA's Dianne Kohler Barnard said that in Business Monitor International's just released third quater South Africa Tourism Report, serious concerns were raised about the safety of tourists ahead of the 2010 World Cup.