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MINISTER SLAMS ARREST OF ‘DD’ TOURISTS

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MANZINI – The arrest of tourists who had attended the MTN BUSHFIRE Festival seems to have left a bitter taste with Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Christopher Gamedze.


Gamedze has since condemned the Royal Swaziland Police (RSP) for arresting about 40 tourists, who had attended the MTN BUSHFIRE Festival this past weekend.


The minister, in an interview yesterday, said as much as it was an offence to drive while under the influence of alcohol, his ministry felt the police were painting a bad picture of the kingdom.
“Cha akuhambi kahle bekunene (things didn’t go well). With the high arrests of tourists this weekend who had attended the festival, the police are seen to be obviously targeting our visitors.


“We also noted how they park their vehicles and camp by the entrance of such entertainment places. Government is spending a lot of money to promote tourism in the country and it is totally unacceptable for the police to be targeting traffic offenders outside such entertainment places when there are public roads where roadblocks could be mounted.

After so many arrests of the tourists, the ministry has to look at strategic ways to avoid similar incidents from occurring next year,” the minister said.


Gamedze added that he had talks with some Members of Parliament yesterday to address such issues in Parliament and also assist his ministry in coming up with strategies of avoiding tainting image of the country.

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