The uncertainty around whether or not leisure travel within provinces is permitted according to recently published regulations is “compromising the recovery of tourism and related sectors and cannot continue”, says James Vos, City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management.

Vos has written to the Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, for urgent clarity, adding his voice to many businesses, associations and individuals who have interpreted the gazetted regulations (by the Department of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs) to mean that leisure travel within the borders of one’s own province is allowed.

Confusion regarding the regulations has, once again, arisen following a statement made by Chairperson of the Federated Hospitality Association’s Western Cape branch, Jeff Rosenberg, in an interview with Cape Talk, who said “an official source” told him that intra-provincial leisure travel was not allowed. He did not confirm the source but Tourism Update understands this to be a high-level official within the National Department of Tourism.

Tourism Update approached a ministerial spokesperson to ask for clarity on the regulations – is leisure travel within provincial borders allowed? The spokesperson refused to comment on the question, saying only: “There is no confusion. The Minister stands by what she said in her briefing last Friday (June 26).

Vos says: “It goes without saying that urgent clarity is needed.”

One industry insider, who wished to remain anonymous, says: “The Minister and her department are dealing with this very strangely, why won’t they issue something official? They must surely see how confusing this is.”

Meanwhile, the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) has interpreted the gazetted regulations to mean that leisure travel within a province is now allowed. On his Facebook page, CEO of the TBCSA, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, said: “The regulations as they are don't explicitly prohibit intra-provincial travel. What is clear is that we are not allowed to cross provincial borders and the inverse of this means we are allowed to move within our own provinces. Accommodation was always open for business, essential, and permitted services since Level 3. On the Advanced Level 3 regulations, accommodation is open (for all additional purposes and leisure). The exclusion is home sharing.”

Co-founder of NightsBridge, Theresa Emerick, said in a recent interview that the confusion could lie in the way the regulation was written. She referred to a line in the Gazette that states that short-term home-sharing /letting /leasing /rental for leisure purposes is excluded. “But the Gazette also states that all accredited and licensed accommodation establishments may open to intra-provincial leisure tourists,” she said.