SISULU: ARRESTS FOR GERMAN TOURIST MURDER IMMINENT

The tourism department briefed Parliament on Tuesday night on its tourist safety plan ahead of the high season.

Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu speaking during a media briefing on 5 October 2022. Picture: @LindiweSisuluSA/Twitter

Lindsay Dentlinger | 12 October 2022 07:22

CAPE TOWN - Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu is confident arrests are imminent for the murder of a German tourist outside the Kruger National Park nine days ago.

She told Parliament that talks were also underway to establish a tourism police unit.

The tourism department briefed Parliament on Tuesday night on its tourist safety plan ahead of the high season.

Sisulu said that government had pulled out all the stops to assist the widow and friends of German tourist, Jorg Schnarr, who was shot and killed in a rented vehicle near White River.

She said that she did so to signal to the world how seriously South Africa takes crime against tourists.

"We do want to revive the concept of a tourism police sector so that we are certain we are looking after people we invite into our country."

Sisulu said that arrests were imminent after three people were taken in for questioning last week and later released.

"It looks like we have arrested the wrong people, but we have the right identity and the minister is about to arrest the right people. We are on the right track basically."

Minister Sisulu has also defended her earlier remarks about there having been just three tourists who'd been killed here over the past 27 years, saying that it was those who indicated tourism on their visa entry.