The Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism has offered a R50 000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunmen criminals who shot and killed a German tourist in White River.
The victim and three fellow travelers were on their way to the Mdluli Safari Lodge when they were attacked by armed men. The driver was shot and killed in the incident.
CEO of the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism, Linda Grimbeek, said they condemned the attack and hope the reward would help get the perpetrators arrested.
She said would meet with the three other tourists, who survived the attack, later today.
Meanwhile, the German Embassy in South Africa is also offering support to the three survivors. A spokesperson at the embassy said they are in close contact with South African authorities.
The Tourism Business Council of South Africa has also condemned the attack, with CEO, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa saying that tourist attacks are equivalent to economic crimes. He urged authorities to act decisively.
Tshivhengwa says South Africa receives a large number of tourists from Germany. He says the TBCSA has, at a recent gathering of tourism industry leaders, called for South Africa’s security cluster to help in bolstering tourism safety and acting fast against acts of criminality that affect the sector’s potential.
He says their team will meet with colleagues in the security cluster to discuss ways in which plans to ensure tourist safety are fast-tracked ahead of the upcoming summer holiday season.
A Mpumalanga police spokesperson said armed men accosted the four tourists after they were forced off the road. The attackers shot the driver in the upper body through the car window. The tourists’ car then crashed into a school wall.
Police are investigating a case of murder.
Read the TBCSA’s statement on the incident here.
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[READ] The South African tourism sector is devastated by the news of the fatal shooting of a German visitor in Mpumalanga. @SATravelTrade @TTshivhengwa @sontondlovu pic.twitter.com/ii37FUB98G
— TBCSA (@TBCZA) October 3, 2022
