Tourism Month launched

Tourism Minister, Derek Hanekom has called out South Africans to take time and visit heritage sites and attractions around the country.
Journalists from all over the country took a Shot Left tour in the Free State, a campaign which was launched back in 2013. The campaign drives home the message that travel in our country is fun.
Hanekom explained at a function in the Free State last week that September was tourism month and is celebrated annually. The promotion by SA Tourism is about making travel more affordable for everyone. He said: “We are driving the message that regardless of who you are, or where you come from, or your physical or financial status, tourism is something open to be enjoyed by everyone. Every South African deserves to experience the wonderful country we live in and have access to important sites that commemorate and celebrate our heritage and diverse cultures.

“The growth of domestic tourism depends on our ability to make our tourists attraction and facilities accessible and affordable for more of our people, and to improve our communication of joy and value that travel brings. Let us continue working together and with the industry to ensure that travel is affordable and accessible so that our people can take leisure breaks whenever they feel like throughout the year,” he added.

He further explained that there is 15.4% increase in the first six months of this year. He encouraged journalists to write more stories about tourism, the different cultures and heritage sites. Hanekom also encouraged South Africans to be active on social media platforms as it has power to influence the nation. Journalists from different provinces in the country were touring Free State as part of the tourism month launch. Members were divided into three groups for different experiences in their destinations.

Free State was more like a country on its own before it became a province. It consists of four tribes which are the Sothos, Tswanas, Xhosas and Afrikaans speaking people. It was governed by President J.J Hoffman, J.N Boshoff, M.N Pretorius, J.H Brand. F.N Reits and M.T Steyn until 1902. Its capital city Bloemfontein is known as the city of roses. The province is known as the bread and basket of SA because of its agriculture. The streets in the city are still named after the presidents’ names who used to reside at the Old President Museum.
The publications journalist Bonisile Khoza was among the tourist. The tour started in Thabanchu, a township which is 45 minutes from the city and had our lunch at Legae La Khumo Lodge. The following day we went to Poelanong heritage site which means reconciliation, it was erected on 25 May 2003 to remind the three tribes that none is better than the other. They are all equal and should now live in peace with each other.

We then headed to the Whispering Wall, the place that depicts more about the Anglo-Boer War that was between the Dutch and British people who were fighting for the natural resources. There is a statue that of an armed man with his wife carrying her baby, which symbolises men were armed ready to leave their wives and kids to fight during the war. There is a statue of a phenomenal English woman, Emily Hob-House who was a nurse. English people hated her for taking care of the blacks and Afrikaans speaking people. She did not like what the English people were doing to the blacks.

We also visited Batho township known as Mangaung, it is a township with rich history. We passed by the house that used to be shared by four families during the apartheid era. We then headed to the youth monument situated at St. Bernard High School, it was built in memory of the people who died in 1976. Nothing got me excited me than walking in Waaihoek, a place with the church where the ruling party ANC was formed in 1912.
It also saddened me to realise that the place is too far from development. We then proceeded to Naval Hill, where we were welcomed by the beautiful sounds of the Mangaung Marimba Band and also Batswana traditional dancers.

We then visited the biggest dam in the Southern Hemisphere, Gariep dam. It was constructed from 1968 to 1972 with the assistance of European countries. The whole project costed about R3 billion. The dam supplies water to three provinces, namely Free State, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape. The dam is controlled by 24 employees. Eskom also uses parts of the dam to generate electricity when needed. The dam has a huge generator for back-up for cases like load shedding. Every second month they let it run to make sure it is still serviceable. We also had a change for a boat cruise along the Gariep dam. Our trip ended at the Concentration Camp where the British people captured the wives and kids of the Dutch people during the Anglo-Boer War.

See tour galleries: View pictures from the launch of Tourism Month