Dube-Ncube to inspect Margate Airport renovations

11th September 2020 By: Sane Dhlamini - Creamer Media Senior Contributing Editor and Researcher

Dube-Ncube to inspect Margate Airport renovations

KZN MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube

KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube will visit Margate on Saturday to inspect R10-million worth of renovations at the Margate Airport as the country observes Tourism Month.

Dube-Ncube will be accompanied by KwaZulu-Natal Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Bheki Ntuli and local leadership from the Ray Nkoyeni local municipality on the South Coast.

“We are committed to modernizing our small airports – not only to allow for an easy flow of passengers and tourists to various corners of this province - but to make our airports attractive destinations for future investments,” said Dube-Ncube.

Further, as part of heritage and tourism month, the MEC will visit the KwaXolo caves, in the South. 

She said KwaZulu-Natal is rich in heritage and history and government is using such sites to stimulate tourism for the benefit of rural communities.

On inter-provincial leisure travel, which is now open under level 2 of the national lockdown, Dube-Ncube said the province had been inundated with bookings from tourists from across the country.

“Critically, as the department we are working with municipalities across the province to ensure local communities are brought into the mainstream tourism. The success of tourism will be judged by how much it is contributing towards our efforts aimed at substantially reducing poverty, inequality and unemployment in our country,” she said.

She said government was working to increase the number of tourism programmes and projects that are led by, and benefit, local communities.

Furthermore, Dube-Ncube said her department was working on intensifying the roll-out the Local Government Tourism Capacity Building Programme for Tourism Practitioners and Communities.

“Our aim is to ensure that KwaZulu-Natal is amongst the top tourist destinations. To achieve this vision, we have focused on enhancing our destination by improving infrastructure at various tourism magnets across local municipalities,” she concluded.