More than 200 people have died since looting and riots erupted in South Africa on July 9, the bulk of them in KwaZulu-Natal.
Graced with rolling vineyards, bountiful big game, the iconic Table Mountain, endless sandy beaches and vast cultural riches, South Africa would have expected to cash in on a post-virus travel boom.
But a week of violent rioting and looting risks deterring
foreign visitors and hammering hopes of recovery, the industry says,
compounding losses caused by the country's mounting coronavirus toll.
Tracey Hellerle of the Umzolozolo lodge near Ladysmith in
KwaZulu-Natal province, which was the epicentre of the disorder, said every
visitor booked to stay during the week of the riots had cancelled.
Before Covid-19, visitors from across the world -- and
during the pandemic, from across the country -- would sit on poolside sun loungers
overlooking the undulating plains of the Nambiti game reserve, hoping to catch
a glimpse of Big Five game animals.
"We'd just started to get back into the swing of
things," Hellerle said, noting that a downturn in bookings because of the
pandemic had already led to layoffs.
"People were just too scared to travel (and) because of
the riots they closed the N3 (motorway), which had become like a war zone and
people were just too terrified to get in their vehicles to travel."
Since the looting and riots erupted on July 9, 212 people
have died, of whom 180 lost their lives in KwaZulu-Natal.
Tourism fears
Tourism is a mainstay of South Africa's economy, which was
stumbling even before Covid-19 and the riots.
The industry contributed 355 billion rand ($24.6 billion, 21
billion euros) to the economy in 2019 -- seven percent of GDP -- and employed
759,900 people, according to official statistics.
In Clarens, an idyllic tourist town nestled at the foot of
the Maluti mountains that is a popular weekend retreat five hours by car inland
from Durban, guesthouse owner Heinrich Pelser fears foreign tourists could be
deterred by the unrest.
"If you look at Canadians and Americans I don't think
they will come soon," he said.
Since the unrest began, Pelser's Stonehaven cottages have
hosted drivers heading away from riot-hit Durban, as well as one man on his way
to the city to take food to his mother, he said.
Under coronavirus restrictions, alcohol sales are banned
nationwide -- a particular blow for Clarens, which is known for its
microbreweries, and for the Western Cape province which is renowned for its
wineries, as well as being the end point of the prestigious Blue Train.
"It's not worth coming here if you can't sample the
cheese, the wine, the beers," said Pelser, who employs six full-time
staff.
In Cape Town, capital of the Western Cape and a popular stop
for cruise ships, tourist-oriented businesses say the lack of visiting liners
has hurt them.
"It's been very slow. Before we had a lot of cruise
passengers. We are just waiting to see if this vaccine means they can come
back," said the manager of the Wild Thing Africa souvenir store in Cape
Town's V&A Waterfront.
"Now we don't want (the violence) to come here,"
she said, giving her name only as Simone.
Nearby, passengers who were nearly all South Africans
disembarked from a red double-decker Cape Town tour bus parked beside the
city's Two Oceans Aquarium.
"I feel very safe, it's normal here. The coronavirus
restrictions have been easier than I expected," said a passenger who gave
his name only as Brian, visiting his South African girlfriend.
'Safe to come'?
In another blow to Durban's tourist allure, officials have
closed several beaches in the city's north, usually popular with visitors both
local and foreign, for fear of chemical contamination following nearby
industrial arson.
Zanele Khomo, chief growth officer at the Durban Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, said that events had been "devastating" for
the city's tourism economy.
"Tourism-wise it's gonna hurt us as a country,"
she added.
The destruction from the looting has been broadcast
worldwide, as have fake news stories about attacks on tourist areas.
"Once the riots have calmed down, South Africa is very
popular and once it's safe to come, people will definitely travel," said
Umzolozolo lodge's Hellerle, noting that some lodges in KwaZulu-Natal had been
empty since March 2020.
"It's hoping and praying." -AFP
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