Department renews Tourist Safety Monitors’ contracts
At least 546 Tourist Safety Monitors (TSM’s) contracts have been renewed to cover all tourists’ attraction hotspots.
This takes effect from June 1.These monitors are employed by the department to enhance tourism safety throughout the province.
They are not trained as police reservists, since they provide customer care, communication and reporting mechanism to the police. They have basic knowledge of how the criminal justice system works.
They attend to crime likely to affect tourists such as car hijacking, theft of motor vehicles, rape, common robbery and burglary. They also participate in road blocks when they are requested by police stations to participate.
MEC, Mr Vusi Shongwe says the TSM’s contracts are reviewed every financial year. He says this is a process to determine if the TSM’s are still aligned to their responsibilities.
“As much as this is another form of creating job opportunities, we want dedicated individuals hence we review each and every contract before renewing it,” says Shongwe.
Although the monitors are employed by the department, they report to local police stations. They receive stipends from the department.
“We expect the monitors to assist in creating a safe and conducive environment for tourists who visit the province; they will also help with increased community awareness on economic benefits of tourism. We believe that through this programme, the province’s market-share will be improved and our communities will be well informed on issued regarding safety,” added Shongwe.
