Dr Tielman JC Slabbert and Commander Tsietsi Mokhele are at the helm of the new strategic development, started in 2020, that goes by the name of the Vaal Riverway Agency.
It is a non-profit organisation with the primary aim of marketing the strategic development of the Vaal River Barrage as a favoured tourist destination.
In an interview, Slabbert, a former North-West University academic and economist said the new project is aimed at creating more sustainable job opportunities in the local tourism sector.
Using the example of an overseas visitor booking accommodation at one of the riverfront hotels, Slabbert explained, that the person would otherwise travel by road through “dirty industrial parts of town, poorly maintained roads and garbage laden sidewalks.”
“Only once the guests have passed through the lobby of the hotel would they have a view of the beautiful river,” he said. Slabbert’s focus is on marketing the Vaal River in all its splendour to the ‘snobbish visitor’ that needs to be attracted, in a very direct way, to Emfuleni’s impressive waterfront and its outstanding tourist accommodation facilities.
As economist he argues the tourism sector is the largest employment creation multiplier and is best suited to alleviate poverty in the Vaal Triangle. Slabbert and Commander Mokhele are confident that their agency would play a significant role in promoting the Vaal River Barrage to local and international visitors. It will strengthen the local economy and regional tourism sector.
The Vaal Riverway Agency’s leadership has a sound track record. Mokhele is a former CEO of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), specialising in marine operations, harbour development and the development of the Blue (water) Economy. Slabbert, a specialist researcher in the economics of poverty alleviation, has been working in that field in the Vaal Triangle for more than two decades.
As a non-profit organisation the Vaal Riverway Agency will establish a board that will partner with local and regional private and public sector stakeholders to stimulate economic growth opportunities on the Vaal River Barrage waterfront, according to Slabbert.
* The author is an extraordinary professor in the faculty of Humanities at North-West University’s Vanderbijlpark Campus.
