90-Second Initiative: Igniting Positive Change in South Africa through Hospitality!

Africa stands at a critical juncture heading into the 2024 General Elections. The Doomsday Clock currently sits at just 90 seconds to midnight, the closest it has been since the height of the Cold War, indicating the precarious state of global affairs. Here at home, the future trajectory of South Africa hangs in the balance this May.

• Guy Stehlik, CEO of BON hotels shares his concerns and also ideas to voters to take action on
• Unique opportunity abounds – helping our employees making their voices heard
• Another 5 years of the ANC  can have a disastrous effect on the South Africa economy and tourism growth
• Invite for a call to action for the hospitality industry
  

As business leaders and employers in the hospitality sector, this presents us with a unique opportunity – our industry employs three million souls in South Africa - and responsibility to spur much-needed positive change by educating, empowering and helping  our employees to make their voices heard at the  ballot box. We cannot afford another five years of an ANC-led decaying infrastructure, misinformed domestic and foreign policy, maladministration, rising crime, increased governmental led corruption, failing water supplies and load-shedding if we want South Africa to remain an attractive destination for tourism and foreign direct investment.

The stark reality is that the leaders of three hotel groups with international links (and I personally know them) are currently poised to disinvest from South Africa due to growing concerns primarily about our economic but also overall future following the elections. These groups invested heavily in South Africa, building midmarket, luxury and smaller leisure properties here. Today, some of these properties are officially on the market should the election produce catastrophic results. Their skittishness speaks volumes about waning business confidence under continued ANC rule and worsens when one considers a potential ANC and EFF coalition.

While the resilient domestic corporate and leisure travel market may initially be able to weather almost any electoral outcome in the short term, the biggest victims will be the large international top-tier hotels, lodges and high-end leisure hotels and resorts. An ANC-EFF coalition government would likely spell disaster for foreign investment as well as tourism growth.

I believe that we can make a difference if we work together.

I invite a call to action for all hospitality businesses to launch voter awareness and education campaigns targeting our employees. You can personally drive this with your teams – no one else is going to do this for you. With three million employees straddling our industry, we can activate a powerful get-out-and-vote force if we provide the right information, opportunities  and incentives for our staff to vote on the day.

I recommend that we take the following steps immediately, before voter registration closes in 14 days from now:

1. Work with employees to show them how to register to vote online. It’s very easy. ID book or Smart ID and https://registertovote.elections.org.za/voter-online-registration/overview
2. Educate employees on the voting process, registration requirements, and ID documents needed at the polling station
3. Ensure staff are registered before the looming deadline in mid-February
4. Offer paid time off, transportation assistance, and/or financial bonuses to incentivise voting on Election Day
5. Launch non-partisan awareness campaigns explaining why voting matters for the country's future

If we facilitate a higher voter turnout among our employees, we can help amplify voices that have gone unheard for too long in the national political conversation. And while we cannot control which parties triumph in May, we can at least play a role in ensuring that South Africa's next government at least emerges from a true democratic process where all citizens participated freely.

The hospitality industry need not stand by helplessly, believing that forces are beyond our control. We have agency, resources, and relationships within our communities. Perhaps by stepping up to empower the least powerful within our ranks, we can help set South Africa on a more promising path forward.

The alternative outcomes – divestment, decay, and brain drain – will not serve the long-term interests of our sector or this country we call home. The time for action is now.

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