30 August 2013
VREDEFORT DOME TOURIST GUIDES ASSOCIATION
Minutes of meeting held on Friday 30 August 2013 at 9h00 at Godlife Church, Parys.
The interim chairman, Christo Meyer, welcomed all present and asked attendants to feel free to participate in order to make the discussions fruitful and the meeting a success.
Apologies were received from the following:
Analize Grimbeek, Magsafaris; Roy van Vuren, African Wanderer Tours; George Mosomako, N.W. Dept. of Tourism; Andrew Kgaketla, N.W. Dept. of Tourism; Karen Addison, Otters Haunt; Julius Moloi, Fezile Dabi Distr, Mun.
Attendance: The meeting was attended by 9 people
Additions to the agenda: The following items were added to the agenda under general:
– Site specific training/mentoring
– Web site
– Logo
– List of registered guides
– Funding of inaugural meeting
– Guiding by non-guides in the Dome
The minutes of the last meeting was read and adopted after two corrections were made.
Draft Constitution:
Draft 3 of the constitution was read and discussed clause by clause and the following
amendments were effected:
– The name of the Association to read: “VREDEFORT DOME TOURIST GUIDESASSOCIATION”
– Clause 8.4 to read: A two third majority of members may decide on the legal status of the Association, e.g. to be a Section 21 company/not for profit, etc.
– Clause 10.1 to read: The secretary shall be obliged to make the constitution available on request.
This draft constitution, as amended was approved and adopted by the meeting and will be submitted to the inaugural meeting of the association as the constitution of the Association.
General:
Site specific training/mentoring: Concern was expressed that it is not easy for newly trained and registered guides to find their feet as guides in an area like the Vredefort Dome. There is also a need for the retraining of guides who did not guide for a long period of time. The possibility of experienced guides operating as mentors for inexperienced guides was discussed. Practical aspects like the working out of tourism routes, access to sites on private land and marketing and networking, as well as specialized knowledge of the area, were discussed. The Registrar for tourist guides in the North-West Province indicated that her department will have no problem if senior guides could facilitate the retraining and mentoring of inexperienced guides in the area. The Department will support such actions. This matter needs to be properly sorted out as soon as possible, once the Association is established.
Web Site: Thanks to Graeme Addison the web site is up and running. It was explained and illustrated to the meeting by him. The site will contain all relevant information about the Association and will be kept up to date on a daily basis.
Logo: The logo is in the process of being designed and progress will be reported at the next meeting. It was also felt that the Association should try to get funding for the production of the logo, badges and banners.
Guiding in the Dome by Subject Specialists from outside: Members of the meeting expressed their concern about people from universities, colleges and schools bringing groups of students/learners into the area without making arrangements with landowners for access to certain sites. Uncontrolled groups cause damage to unique rock formations, rock art and the fauna and flora, not to mention the litter that they leave behind all over the area. The opinion of the members is that such group leaders should make use of the services of local guides who know the area and have access to all the unique sites which they need to take their students to.
List of registered guides: The Registrars of the Provinces will be approached to supply the Association with a list of registered tourist guides in order, for us, to control our membership.
It will also serve as a means to regulate legal guiding in the Dome.
Document to state concerns: The meeting decided that a document containing all the problems concerning tourism in the Dome being compiled and submitted to the Authorities, including the Management Authority of the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site, once it is established. Matters, among many, being condition of infra structure, accessibility to sites and signage, should be addressed. We need to be ahead of the future.
Funding of the Inaugural Meeting: The members present agree that this meeting will be an important event and that it should be regarded as a special occasion.
Government authorities as well as possible private donors will be approached for the funding of the event for refreshments etc.
Tourism Excellence Workshop: The Registrar, Bella Gumede, North-West Province announced that the mentioned workshop will be held on 11 September 2013 at 9h30 at the Protea Hotel at Klerksdorp and requested everybody to try and attend. September is Tourism Month in South Africa and this workshop is the Contribution of the Province to promote tourism.
Tourism Master Plan: Lydia More, North-West Province invited all stakeholders to attend a meeting to draw up a master plan for tourism in the Dr Kennith Kaunda District Munisipality. This meeting will be held on 19 September 2013 at 8h00 at the Banquet Hall in Potchefstroom.
Next Meeting: 13 September 2013 at 9h00 at the Godlife Church, 83 Loop Street. Parys.
Closure: The chairman thanked all present for their attendance and participation and the meeting closed at 11h30.