It’s unusual to see a government that is on the face of it so entrenched in power — a solid 62% of the national vote after two decades in office, eight out of nine provincial assemblies — in such disarray. Yet President Jacob Zuma’s African National Congress administration limps from disaster to disaster, full of […]
tourism
Posted inEnvironment, General
The consequences of a total ban of trophy hunting
By Professor Peet van der Merwe This is a response to the call on a total ban on trophy hunting as a result of the hunt of Cecil the lion. When people and organisations make such a call to ban hunting, it is important to understand the consequences thereof to countries that market themselves as […]
Posted inGeneral, Tech
Florence, Siena and the ‘space of flows’
We are in Florence for a conference, in what is to my mind the most enchanting part of Italy, namely Tuscany. Because I have always been interested in art and architecture, and in principle we don’t take taxis, but walk everywhere we go, we have already seen the most beautiful buildings and urban landscapes, framed […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Wannabe pilot Gigaba’s ill-fated flight of fantasy
While arrogance is undoubtedly an unattractive trait, in modern society it is so prevalent among politicians, top officials and corporate leaders as to be entirely unremarkable. However, when it combines with a stubborn inability to admit to error, it becomes dangerous. Until recently the most newsworthy act by Malusi Gigaba was dressing in the uniform […]
Posted inEquality, General
Rethinking the new visa requirements, an open letter
Dear John, This morning you said, “Tourists are the most important people” because they bring jobs and money to South Africa before calling the new requirements for visas “daft”. You then went on to say that you just don’t understand why we would be tightening our controls and India doing everything they can to loosen […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
Bye-bye 132 000 Chinese tourists
By Michael Jones “I’m sorry, I simply do not see them” is an often-quoted response I hear when talking to high-end South African tourism brands about marketing their products in the China outbound travel market. Strange considering that official government statistics are adamant that South Africa received 132 334 Chinese tourists in 2012 making it our […]