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Today, we are meeting with mayors, senior officials across all spheres of government and entities under the auspices of the Provincial Tourism Investment Committee.

The ANC government made a strategic decision to use tourism to stimulate rural and township economy. 

Our view is that local government is where tourism happens, and this is why local government is best placed to create a memorable experience for tourists.

As government we are lobbying and bidding to host national and international events as part of the stimulation of tourism. We hosted, successfully, the MTN 8 Finals over the weekend.

We will be hosting the South African Music Awards around the 17 to 18 November at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre.

KZN will be put firmly on the map as we host the jewel of the creative industry. We will be doing destination marketing and activations in various parts of the province. Our aim is to ensure that KZN is amongst the top tourist destinations.

To achieve this, all municipalities must play a role. We must maximize the considerable job creating potential of the tourism sector.  And we must pride ourselves on a responsible, sustainable and transforming sector.

It is for these reasons we are meeting today to assess progress in relation to investments in socio-economic infrastructure in various municipalities across the province.

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. We have reminded each other that Section 153 describes the developmental duties of municipalities.

This section states that a municipality must structure and manage its administration, budgeting and planning processes to give priority to the basic needs of the community, and to promote the social and economic development of the community.

Local Tourism is also singled out in Schedule 4 (B) as one of the competency areas of local government. And also a concurrent responsibility between National and Provincial government (Schedule 4 (a)).

The Tourism Sector is a national priority sector with enormous potential to promote economic development, thus requiring of municipalities to promote it and support it.

Today’s agenda is structured to allow us to enhance our interventions aimed at turning around the situation.

I am confident that we will use this session as an opportunity to explore ways of both harnessing the potential of tourism to transform the lives of people, and to seek effective ways of achieving positive transformation in the sector itself.

Each one of us here today has a special role to play in making this national aspiration a reality - in one way or another, we have a direct impact on the future of tourism.

#OurEconomyOurFuture

 #UnforgettableKZN

 #KZNHasItAll #BelieveIt

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