South Africa: Thaba Ya Batswana Eco Hotel and Spa gets FTT-certification

Fair Trade Tourism (FTT), a South African NGO that encourages and monitors fair and responsible practises in tourism establishments and activities, recently added the Thaba Ya Batswana Eco Hotel and Spa in the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve to the list of FTT-certified businesses in South Africa. The Thaba Ya Batswana Eco Hotel and Spa sleeps 208 guests in 52 rooms. All rooms have access to WiFi and are equipped with iPad docking stations, en suite bathrooms, TV sets, air conditioning, lounge areas and complimentary coffee stations. The Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve, often referred to by locals as Johannesburg's "best-kept secret", is situated to the south of the city centre and stretches over 680 ha of open veld landscape and koppies.

Thaba Ya Batswana not only supports small and medium sized businesses with a favourable BBBEE rating, but also puts community interests first in all business dealings. The hotel has employed people from the community who live less than 20km from the hotel premises, in order to reduce each employee’s carbon footprint, as well as to enhance their family lives by less time travelling to and from work.
Local charities and schools are some of the beneficiaries of financial and practical assistance, provided in order to improve the lives of children, adults and the elderly in the community. 
The owners of Thaba Ya Batswana are founding members of both SOJO and KUBiC – organisations proactively involved in the ecological improvement and greening of the south of Johannesburg. The first self-sustaining green corridor will be their legacy.

Fair Trade Tourism's (FTT) certification programme, which was recently outsourced to FLO-Cert, is based on adherence to specific criteria including fair wages and working conditions, fair distribution of benefits, ethical business practice, and respect for human rights, culture and the environment.