The Whale Criers Speech
To all esteemed
guests, the press present here at this juncture, the honorable
executive mayor of the Overberg Mr. Beyleveldt, our
distinguished guests, my beloved manager Storm Kreusch and to
all individuals and colleagues whose names I did not mention.
It is fitting for
me to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude and
appreciation to everyone who has taken time and interest to be
present, non-withstanding your commitments in varying ways.
It is indeed
humbling to be honored to this extent, a feeling I would
describe as priceless and highly jubilating.
Most of you, I
believe, would probably not know about Zolile, born in Uitenhage
40 years ago. This has been a result of my active participation
in a struggle which is familiar to all of us, a struggle
intended to remove the unjust and harsh laws from the statute
books of the then regime. Today, however, we are fighting a war
which is different in nature, a war against the scourge of
HIV/Aids, a war against colonialism and economic deprivation
that has yielded untold levels of joblessness across the
continent.
Hermanus, with is
champagne air, places us on a truly competitive advantage over
the rest of the world. This is due to our pollution-free
environment, enjoyed by all its citizens and esteemed guests.
Thanks to Sir
William Hoy, the then South-African Railways General Manager who
used his influence in 1912 to oppose, under immense pressure,
the railway link from Botriver to the then
Hermanuspietersfontein, today known as Hermanus.
His decision to
refuse the railway link had another significant implication for
Hermanus and South Africa at large. The then citizens witnessed
the movement of the magnetic observatory from the noisy and
polluted U.C.T to Hermanus. Today this establishment helps the
nation with magnetic data which is crucial for research of our
universe.
I trust that the
contribution in my role as new whale crier, will assist bridging
the gap between the haves and have nots, by ways of revitalising
more foreign exchange injections into our little town, rich in
diversity.
Mr. Baleni, as I
would be identified, is however, synonymous with one of our
whale species called the “baleens,” even if not as popular as
the Southern Right Whale, it blends my identity into the
undiscovered mysteries of these huge and friendly mammals of our
salty waters.
Thanks to the
initiative put in place by MTN to popularise the whale industry,
but I hasten to say with certainty that we need to aggressively
revive tourism, particularly in Hermanus, to propel it as an
exciting tourist destination. This would emanate from spin-offs
accruing from concerted efforts unleashed by all stake holders.
I therefore challenge local government to re-examine its budgets
so that tourism can be given priority, in order to render the
sector lucrative.
On that note,
needless to emphasise the fact that sooner or later our mineral
deposits such as gold and platinum will diminish, tourism will
undoubtedly be the breadbasket of our economy for decades to
come due to its rich service orientations.
Incorporating
schools by way of conducting workshops in eco-tourism and marine
life will be critical in that it will have a big snowball effect
in terms of knowledge assimilation to the outside world.
I will actively get
involved in that area, collecting of taxes by the state from
tourism proceeds improves our gross domestic product picture,
thereby broadening the national fiscus base and ultimately
benefits the various population groups.
My view is that I
strongly believe that Hermanus has not yet been marketed
adequately, mainly due to a few reasons; the concepts of
advertising and target marketing have not been applied
aggressively. This sentiment will be shared by the relevant
stake holder in the industry who understands the true diversity
and the rich heritage of Hermanus. We can do quite a lot to
influence more job opportunities in the hospitality industry.
Lisa Witepski in
one of her publications argues that whale watching has
inevitably boosted the tourism four fold in recent years.
She writes and I
quote: “The South African Whale Tourism is growing at a rate of
112% per annum, making it the fifth fastest growing industry of
its kind in the world.”
It that notion is
true, why do our authorities pay scant attention to the sector?
I will endeavour to
blow my kelp horn with great passion and enthusiasm although it
will scare our dassies quite intermittently.
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