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Cape tourist trade dented
Cape Town Occupancy rates in Cape Town are six percent up on last year, although there was a decrease in the number of foreign visitors to South Africa. The occupancy rates are lower than the projected 11 percent increase largely due to a global perception that Cape Town is not a safe destination.... Rick Taylor, chief executive of Cape Metropolitan Tourism, which monitors tourist movements to and from Cape Town, said: "We are wrestling with our image after what happened in Zimbabwe recently, the government's pronouncements on Aids and the crime situation." Taylor said it is vitally important for the tourism industry that President Thabo Mbeki makes "positive statements" about the country. South African tourists travelling to Cape Town increased from 152 455 in October last year to 162 744 this year. International tourists decreased from 43 085 in October last year to 40 059 this year. Sheryl Ozinsky, head of Cape Town tourism, said it has been a very difficult year for tourism in South Africa. She said floods, crime, the situation in Zimbabwe and fires in the Western Cape were contributing factors. "The global economy is depressed, which makes the tourism industry even more competitive. We must also remember that South Africa is a long-haul destination." Occupancy rates in Cape Town's luxury market, including the Mount Nelson, Victoria & Alfred and Cape Grace hotels are very similar to last year. Greg Simmins, an American travel agent who spends every summer in Cape Town, told the Cape Times "there are so many factors that affect travel to and from Cape Town". "I think people here think the effect of violence is more profound than it really is. I agree that the Olympic Games had a strong influence on the movement of travellers, but we can only really gauge that properly later." Thanks to IOL [ Top ]  Kytie Koekblik ColumnIlda Jacobs Washington D.C. - Hierdie week se Kytie Koekblik gaan ek in twee afdelings skryf: Pre-verkiesing en post-verkiesing.. volgende week sal ek terug van Cuba wees...vir noe gaan ons verlede week se storie op die website los. Vandag is die 7de November 2000 en rondom my loop honderde mense met plakkertjies rond waarop staan "I voted." 'n Groot oomblik in die Amerikaanse geskiedenis in hierdie kop-aan-kop verkiesing tussen "The Liar" and "The Friar," soos Gore en Bush gisteraand gedoop is op Jay Leno se belaglike en soms supersnaakse TV-show. Ek meen daar is 'n verkiesings-industrie hier in Washington wat soos alles in Amerika om geld gaan. Gore maak asof hy 'n aktivis gaan wees vir die armes en middelklas, en Bush verdraai sy woorde en beloftes na gelang van die omstandighede. In my beskeie nuwe buitelander- in- Amerika opinie , is dit 'n sirkus. 'n Absolute verkiesingsspektakel. Daardie kongresmanne met die fake glimlagte wat soggens met pamflette by die metros staan en kastig jou hand skud. Asof hulle regtig vir elke jan rap en sy maat om gee. "Persoonlike interaksie" met die massas is deesdae die in-ding in die politieke spel. Gore speel dit spel baie goed. Hy is hard, ervare, en dinamies alhoewel nie naastenby so charismaties soos ene Bush nie. En ek dink my oupa sou gesê het, Bush is 'n lammie. 'n Ruggraatlose ou wat sy deuntjie binne 'n oogknip sal verander om die klimaat te pas. In elk geval, vanoggend 7 November sien ek mos 'n advertensie-veldtog op 'n driewiel. Die een of ander mal man in 'n pak klere ry op 'n driewiel in die hoofstraat van Bethesda rond met twee amerikaanse vlae wat agter hom aan wapper. Aan hom vasgemaak, is "Lierman for Congress" plakkate. Kan jy nou meer. 8 November Die is nou Limbo-verkiesing. Ons weet nou nog nie wie die nuwe Amerikaanse president is nie. Ek dink dit is nogal 'n goeie idée vir 'n movie: Amerika 48-uur sonder 'n president en die krisis wat dit veroorsaak. Kuba besluit om in te gryp en 'n kernwapen op die Wit Huis te los te laat.. Chaos in Amerika. Geen Wit Huis nie, geen President nie, geen World Bank of IMF nie. Op 'n ernstiger noot: Ek probeer nog uit vind wat presies in die Amerikaanse politiek aangaan, maar dit lyk vir my na die mees powere poging to a demokrasie. Almal blameer nou vir Ralph Nader omdat hy die Nader-faktor is wat Gore en die Demokrate se posisie beduiwel het. Ek probeer so aan die situasie dink: Ons het hier 'n verdeelde Amerika wat ongeveer 49% konserwatief en 51% liberaal is. Of dalk is dit juis 'n oorwegend konserwatiewe Amerika. Dalk as die Demokrate 'n beter kandidaat gehad het, nie Al The Liar Gore nie, sou die Demokrate meer stemme gewerf het? Ek weet tog nie, dit voel net vir my totaal belaglik om te dink enige burger moet voor 'n keuse gestel word: Stem waarvoor jy glo as jy 'n Nader-man is, maar jy weet jou stem gaan eintlik aan Bush.. Dit is aaklig. Dit is seker maar wat in Suid-Afrika ook gebeur. In 1999 was ek as jong stemgeregdigde voor die keuse gestel: Stem ek ANC en leef ek met die wete saam dat ek dalk een van die twee derdes is wat ons baba-demokrasie aan 'n totalitere regime oorgee, of stem ek vir die opposisie waarin ek nie glo nie, maar verseker ek demokratiese representasie. Al wat ek weet, is dat demokrasie net in naam bestaan. En ons ANC konstitusie glo ek met hart en siel in, maar in praktyk, werk dit nie so nie. In praktyk, is Gore nie die people's persoon wat hy voordoen om te wees nie, en is die President van Amerika maar net 'n figuur hoof. So dalk sal ou Bush nie so 'n slegte joppie doen met sy gawe-oom glimlag nie. Maar vir die wereld se onthalwe, vir ons derdewereld, vir Afrika, vir Suid-Afrika se onthalwe, hoop en bid ek dat Gore die president is. Want weet daardie mannetjie Bush eers waar Suid-Afrika op die landkaart is? Nog nie post-verkiesing.. Tyd vir Kytie Koekblik om na Kommunistiese Kuba te vertrek, en steeds het ek geen idée wie die nuwe president van Amerika is nie. Daarom, tot volgende keer vir 'n post-verkiesings verslag. En volgende week bring ek 'n warm Kytie Koekblik uit Kuba storie.. so stay tuned. Kytie K. Kytie Koekblik would like you to respond to her tongue-in-cheek running commentary on suburban life in America in this editorial. Fresh off the boat, she is ready to explore and experiment with American bath plugs and to drive on the other side of the road. You can contact her here. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] 'Tortured' SA man home from hospital The condition of Hans Blunk, one of three South Africans allegedly captured and tortured by soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo last week, had improved so much that he was released from the intensive care unit at Sandton clinic on Sunday. Blunk was admitted to the clinic after his return from the DRC on Saturday. He was freed on Friday. Blunk's wife, Renee, said on Sunday that her husband had been treated for emotional trauma, rather than for a physical disorder. Blunk was flown to South Africa on Saturday morning with an erratic heart beat. He also received treatment for a neck injury, insect bites and dehydration. Blunk and his two companions, Sue Davis-Erasmus and Dirk van der Dussen, were in the DRC to conclude a deal on maize exports to the country. They are reported to have taken photographs, and soldiers accused them of being spies. The three were allegedly detained and tortured for four days and reportedly received only four slices of bread during that period. They were released on Friday after a business associate helped them to pay a large sum to their captors. A spokesperson for the department of foreign affairs, Ronnie Mamoepa, said Davis-Erasmus and Van Dussen were in Zambia. The trio had entered the DRC from Zambia. Mamoepa said authorities in the DRC had promised to return the camera, which Blunk and his companions had used, to the South African embassy in Kinshasa. Other equipment also was being returned, said Mamoepa. However, he denied that any ransom money had been paid to secure the release of the three South Africans. Thanks to IOL [ Top ] Lucky Dube thrills Rwandans with concert Kigali - High-octane reggae star Lucky Dube, sporting dreadlocks and a cream suit, electrified a crowd of 25 000 people at a free concert in Kigali aimed at helping to heal national wounds. Young and old, rich and poor, Hutsi and Tutu, they turned out on Sunday for the central African country's first major concert since the 1994 genocide in which up to 800 000 lives were lost. Stars like Dube, a South African, are not a frequent sight in one of the world's poorest countries Amahoro Stadium is not exactly state-of-the-art. But the electrifying rasta, backed by an orchestra and dance group of dynamite energy, mesmerised the crowd for hours in a way that no amount of ramshackle technology, ear-scorching feedback or rain could spoil. At first they hesitated, listening respectfully to this star who seemed to have descended from the heavens on their humble world. Then they began to dance, at first with a kind of timid rapture more cautious than carefree. "This scene is just great," enthused 20 year-old mechanic Franck, determined not to miss this concert as he had when Dube appeared here in 1996. "We love it and we wish there was more of it," said 23-year-old Aline, a student. "It's terrific, especially in a country like ours, to get everybody all together, all mixed up together." The organisers hope just that - that friendly gigs will bring together a mix of people and help to overcome lethal tribal rivalries. The inter-ethnic genocide in 1994 claimed the lives of between 500 000 and 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, while more than a million people fled to neighbouring countries. Two private companies put up the $75 000 (about R578 250) required to mount the Dube show. "The idea was to get folks together enjoying themselves without any differences between them," said William Ntidendereza, chairperson of Kigali Rotary Club, which organised the concert. Ntidendereza said he hoped its success would encourage other performers to plan stops in Kigali. How did Dube himself feel about coming here? He told journalists before going on stage: "Last time I came here in 1996, people in South Africa were telling me: 'You're going to Rwanda? Are you ready to die?' "This time they were talking about Ebola, but I really feel safe here." The deadly Ebola virus has caused panic in Rwanda's neighbour Uganda, where more than 100 people have died since mid-September. "I remember that when we got on stage I didn't know if there were gonna be people in the stadium," Dube recalled of his 1996 date just two years after the genocide. "When we came out there were people in the stadium, but I was hoping that nothing happened, there'd be no violence," Dube said. Thanks to IOL [ Top ] South African "patriots in exile" Our infant democracy is a daily testimony to the reminiscents of apartheid, traumatised by the legacies of poverty, crime and unemployment. Tragically enough, some South Africans and certain "New South Africa exiles" still long back to the good old days, refusing to acknowledge the human rights violations and basic inhumanities of the previous racist constituency. Out there, lurking somewhere in the anonymity of cyberspace, are a few right wing organisations who have gone international via the world wide web. These are the superior "Whites" who give whites a bad name. A newsletter called the Springbok Cyber Newsletter is e-mailed to many recipients, former South African and Rhodesians, across the world. The latest letter climaxed with a view of doom for South Africa. "Quite tragic what is really happening in SA. But the Whites have only themselves to blame for the gutless way they allowed the treacherous handover to happen - and the even more disgusting way many of them are now helping to keep the regime in power by fawning and toadying up to the new rulers." The newsletter is distributed by the Springbok Club, which was formed in 1996 as a merger between two organisations for South Africans and Rhodesians, the White Rhino Club and the Rhodesian forum. The Springbok Club is based in London and holds regular meetings both of an informative and social nature. Their speakers report on the present situation in South Africa, as well as on pro-South African sentiment around the world. It also publishes the magazine S.A.Patriot in Exile, a publication that was originally founded in Durban in 1980 as the South African Patriot. The Springbok Club website features an old South African flag triumphantly planted on the African continent, guarded by two Springboks on either side of the continent. But the even more aggressive rightwing sentiments are to be found on the website of the South African Patriot in Exile. Their logo is a white muscular fisted arm holding the old South African flag. The old South African flag is for sale, marketed as the "real South African flag." The South African Exiles Web Site welcomes all South African and Rhodesian expatriates, as well as other friends of these countries who wish to see the "re-establishment of civilised rule in Southern Africa." The South African "exiles" have the Patriotic Press's South African newsletter for sale on their website. This newsletter was published in 1989/90 during a most dramatic stage in South African history. These newsletters are now available for £20.00 or $40.00 for a complete set of 8 issues, and the South African Exiles have asked for help with distribution in the new "Struggle. An advertisement on their web site reads: "We are seeking "couriers" who are traveling to South Africa who would be prepared to take batches of the magazine for re-posting." Any volunteers? Comments on this article are welcome. Contact Ilda here. RSA-Overseas comments: The RSA-O team received very strong critism from the above-mentioned Springbok Club in the UK. Some of the comments include: "We were specifically sickened by your use of the filthy ANC flag on the side of your message, and also by the fact that it was featured prominently on your web-site". "If you are serious about obtaining support from the expatriate South African community then I would suggest that you immediately remove such offensive images. Many of us have lost personal friends at the hands of the ANC terrorists, and do not wish to be associated with anyone who is apparently prepared to suck-up to the scum". "Your assertion that the ANC flag "is the current SA flag" is crap, and well you know it. It is a party political flag, just like party political flags have been adopted as "national" flags in many other Black African nations - Zimbongoland, Congo/Zaire, Sudan for example. When civilised White rule is eventually re-established in South Africa then the real South African flag will also be re-adopted (which was NOT a party political flag, but one which was agreed upon by a Parliamentary Conference consisting of ALL parties represented in Parliament in 1926/27; an article detailing the full history of our national flag was carried in "S.A.Patriot-in-Exile" No.31 - I could always send you a copy if you like), but if in the meantime the PAC comes to power then they are on record as stating that they will adopt a new Africanist "national" flag". © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] [ Top ] |
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