AirBnB and other home sharing apps are coming under scrutiny in South Africa. The country has proposed legislation to regulate short term holiday home rentals. But the new laws are being challenged by an organisation called Sakeliga. Now, just about anyone who owns a home anywhere in the world can be a service provider to AirBnB. But South Africa says it's causing harm to small businesses in the tourism sector. CGTN's Julie Scheier reports from Johannesburg.

AirBnB could soon face a stricter set of laws in South Africa which could dictate locations and place limits on homestays. The app allows people to list and rent their premises to travellers without much hassle or cost.

VICTOR THARAGE, DIRECTOR-GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM, SOUTH AFRICA "We want more and more of these platforms. We do believe that they bring us a lot of traffic, there's got to be a limit to how many times per year you will be able to host. Should you want to host 365 days in a year, there's nothing wrong with that, just go and zone correctly, and zone as a business."

Business lobby group Sakeliga is opposing the new laws. It says restrictions will be damaging to tourism and the economy. The online platform has raked in $678m for the local economy and created 22 000 jobs.

DANIEL DU PLESSIS, LEGAL ANALYST SAKELIGA "AirBnB is a model of self regulation, and customers seem to love it. They like the insights and they like the information they get from using the platform and I think we should be encouraging, rather than discouraging this sort of market innovation."

Homes listed on AirBnB generally provide a cheaper and more personal experience for travellers, away from fancy hotels and guest houses. But smaller businesses who have to be graded say it's pricing them out of the market.

SHEILA SEKHITLA, OWNER THE VIEW GUESTHOUSE "People are using their back room to accommodate guests, and they are cheap. I mean my rates are very competitive. But if someone looks at my rates, and look at the back room which is the same standard as me but it's not regulated, you know the person will go there."

JULIE SCHEIER JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA "AirBnB has over 35 000 listings in South Africa. It's in discussions with government over the proposed new legislation. While some believe it will level the playing fields, the laws will have to go through parliament before being passed. JS, CGTN, JHB, SA."