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Lamontville. Today I was on a working visit to Chillas Restaurant, in Lamontville as part of tourism month.

We want tourism to be a catalyst for township and rural economies.

We say Our Economy - Our Future. We are inspired by a anti poverty campaigner from this area, Msizi "Sherriff" Dube who is known for ‘Asinamali’ - ‘We Don’t have Money’ campaign.

We are a generation deployed by the ANC to ensure that the people of Lamontville and other areas have Money eventually.

We are here to declare that we remain committed towards the creation of a new generation of creators of wealth and jobs in the townships and rural areas.

 We have brought in senior government officials to assess the type of interventions needed to ensure the expansion of this hang-out spot and many others. 

We want cash to circulate in this township which has rich history.

We have met with the owner Mr Mjay Maphumulo, the staff, local councillor, community leaders and interacted with patrons. The owner presented a solid plan for the renovations and expansion of this hangout spot.

Accordingly, our entities have been mandated to radically eradicate the red tape and ensure that business licensing processing and funding is speeded up to turn things around.

We want residents around this area to benefit through our strategic interventions geared towards the stimulation of the entire value chain of the tourism and hospitality sector.

We want to see the establishments of Bed and Breakfast, Transport and Logistics, food and clothing retail shops, recycling and many more others. We dont want informal economy to be left behind like car wash and saloons.

Our department and following entities will intervene:-

■KZN Liquor Authority 

■ Tourism KwaZulu-Natal  

■ KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife 

■ KZN Film Commission 

■KZN Sharks Board 

■KZN Gaming and Betting

■ KZN Growth Fund

■ OPeration Vula Fund

■ Ithala

■ Trade & Investment KZN

Importantly, yesterday, we issued a statement affirming our support for the township and rural based based tarvens, Shisanyama, restaurants and other establishments.

We pointed out that the tavern industry is estimated to be worth between R40bn and R60bn and accounts for 80 to 90 percent of township alcohol sales and 43 percent of all alcohol sold in South Africa. 

With more than 8000 liquor license holders here in KZN,  we have  a responsibility as the ANC government to ensure that these entrepreneurs are protected from a syndicates behind the manufacturing of counterfeit alcohol.

Fake alcohol is destroying legitimate businesses and creates a burden of diseases in our healthcare system which is already under pressure.

Our visit to So Chilla Restaurant  and many other establishments in the townships and rural areas is aimed at achieving the following:-

● Protecting, promoting and affirming our support for the township and rural based economy;

●Assessing  what type of state resources must be deployed to ensure that money circulates in the township and rural areas to grow the local economy and create much needed jobs;

●To position townships and rural areas as destinations for tourists.

Since the beginning of September as both Tourism and Heritage our message is that local government is where tourism happens.

We are emphasizing the point that local government is best placed to create a memorable experience for tourists.

Importantly, as set out in Chapter 7 - Section 152 of the Constitution, one of the objectives of Local Government is to promote social and economic development.

#OurEconomyOurFuture

#KZNHasItAll

 #BelieveIt

 #UnforgettableKZN

#TourismMonth2023

Issued by the Leader Government Business and MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Siboniso Duma