John Lasseter said: “Quality is the best business plan.”

The Department of Tourism today hosted the graduation ceremony of the Food Safety Quality Assurers Programme in the Western Cape. The programme provides training on norms and standards for safe tourism operations, including COVID-19 protocols, targeting the retrenched and unemployed youth.

The Food Safety Quality Assurers Training Programme provides for technical skills in food preservation within the hospitality and tourism sector. This skills programme is recognised by all cookery or food related sectors in South Africa, from small restaurants to large scale hotels.

The Department  of Tourism implements the skills development  programme in line with the National Tourism Sector Strategy and the Tourism Human Resource Development Strategy, to strategically support the tourism sector’s developmental objectives post COVID-19. The recruitment and selection of participants considers the geographical spread of all municipalities, with a particular focus on villages, towns and small dorpies. 

The Department entered into an agreement with The Tourism Business Institute in Southern Africa (TTBISA) to manage training in Western Cape Province, and place the learners in relevant hospitality establishments for experiential learning for the duration of the Project. In terms of the geographical spread, enrolled beneficiaries are from the Cape Metropole, Overberg, Winelands and the West Coast regions.

The Department of Tourism, through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), is continuously training young people between the ages of 18-35 in various fields within the Tourism and Hospitality sector. The aim of the training interventions is to:

• Address skills shortage within the Tourism Hospitality Industry;
• Provide learners with accredited training programmes that will enable them to obtain credits towards further studies;
• Develop the skills of young people in order to increase the pool of skilled labour force within the Tourism & Hospitality industry;
• Create temporary jobs for unemployed people through implementation of EPWP, focusing on the youth, women and people with disabilities thus contributing towards poverty alleviation through the payment of stipend.
• Response to sector’s detrimental socio-economic challenges posed by COVID 19: 
• Provision of tourism human skills development to disrupted business within hospitality and tourism sector: advance 
• Provision of temporary financial relief through payment of stipend and support to business’s capital recovery as a result of Company closures, job losses/ retrenchment. 

The programme consisted of 30% theory and 70% practical training and it is accredited FoodBev Setas. During training, the beneficiaries were introduced to different skills programmes of Food safety quality Assurers. This qualification is recognised by all cookery or food related sectors in South Africa, from small restaurants to large scale hotels.

111 candidates successfully completed the programme and 90% of the learners have secured. permanent jobs at the end of the programme.

Ms Patience Molokoza, Director: Programme Planning and Implementation for the Skills Development Programme expressed her gratitude to the host employers for restoring dignity in the lives of the retrenched learners. 

The Department continues to advance safe tourism establishments which will yield many happy returns and that will contribute to the tourism recovery plan. This intervention plays a major role in the tourism value chain.

ENQUIRIES

Ms Seapei Lebele

Acting Chief Director: Communications

Department of Tourism

Cell: +27 (66) 487 8709

Email: slebele@tourism.gov.za​