Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, on August 5, made public a list of small, medium-sized and microenterprises that benefited from the tourism relief funding programme during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that has forced the vast majority of the sector to close its doors in line with disaster regulations.
According to the Department of Tourism, the R200-million relief it provided has successfully supported 4 000 businesses that have been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The department says it is encouraged by the positive feedback it has received from such businesses in appreciation of this aid.
The list of beneficiaries of this grant, capped at R50 000, can now be accessed on the department’s website.
According to the department, many of the businesses have used the fund to subsidise expenses towards fixed costs, operational costs, supplies and other pressure costs items.
The allocation of funds to ordinary South Africans was conducted in line with government policies and ensured that the benefit was spread geographically across the country to cover all businesses, including those in small villages and townships.
The number of beneficiaries per province across the tourism subsectors of accommodation, hospitality and travel services include 457 in the Eastern Cape, 134 in the Free State, 1 017 in Gauteng, 607 in KwaZulu-Natal, 294 in Limpopo, 238 in Mpumalanga, 162 in the North West, 124 in the Northern Cape and 967 in the Western Cape.
The department states that it remains committed to working with all stakeholders in whatever way it can, as the department understands that these are extremely difficult times for the sector and this situation demands that "we work together to weather the storm going forward".