Communities surrounding Grahamstown are reaping the benefits of “ethnic tourism”.
“The locals invite you to join them on a donkey-cart ride through their village. The tour costs R50 and includes tea in the township,” reads a tourism brochure for Grahamstown.
Grahamstown, with its rich historical heritage, is pushing barriers beyond the classic Victorian buildings, churches and site for colonial battles to introduce visitors to the cultural aspects of township life.
In her book Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel, Deborah McLaren uses the term “ethnic tourism” to describe visits to villages and homes to observe social customs and traditional occupations, see indigenous art and watch local ceremonies. “Exotic cultures … have become tourism’s commodities,” writes McLaren.
In this way the Xhosa people in townships surrounding Grahamstown have been drawn into the tourism industry.
But some township people say they do not just want a bus to drive past and tourists to wave at them. “It is part of the Xhosa custom for visitors to come in and greet them,” says Martin Hendry, a former trustee of Umthathi Training project, which runs a number of empowerment programmes in the area.
An invitation from a township resident is all that is needed for tourists to get out of their vehicles and enter the private homes of the Xhosa people. A moral dilemma, however, surrounds such ventures.
Tour guide Mbuleli Mpokela says some tourists do not feel it is appropriate to enter the homes of others. Some feel it is an invasion of privacy. But Mpokela says the township people do not feel like they are being “observed” by visitors. “The tourists are there to interact with the people. To talk to them about life in South Africa, about their situation …”
Nothobile Ndokweni agrees. She hosts tourists in her township home and dishes out traditional Xhosa meals. “I am happy that tourists can see what is happening in the township, in our homes, and the situation we live in,” she says.
Apart from providing refreshments, through Umthathi, Ndokweni displays local craftwork. She insists that her Umthathi colleagues wear traditional Xhosa clothing and entertain visitors with song and dance.
Local communities are reaping benefits beyond a cultural revival. Mpokela says many more Xhosa women are now doing beadwork as they have recognised “they can make business out of their culture”.
McLaren says tourism can be used to boost rural economic development. The underlying objective behind township tourism is to bring income into these impoverished areas.
“In the first two years of Umthathi conducting its township tours, R80 000 was pumped into the community,” says Hendry.
Township families who welcome tourists into their homes and interact with them for a few hours are paid a full day?s wage by the project. In a community where unemployment is high and money is scarce, this pay-slip is well received by township hosts.
“The township people do not see tourists negatively, as rich and exploitative, but rather as bringing change,” said Mpokela.
Mpokela says one township woman who invited tourists into her house bought biscuits for them. She served her visitors tea and spoke to them about life in the township. When the tourists left they asked the women what she needed. She needed a door for her house, so they bought her one. More tourists have visited the woman?s house since. “And now she has a fridge as well,” says Mpokela.
The tourism brochure says tourists can experience “an alternative to the glossy pre-packaged bus window view of South Africa”. Visitors are offered a first-hand opportunity to meet people in the townships and understand the issues affecting their lives.
The township’s B&Bs are becoming increasingly popular with international and domestic tourists.
The owner of Umso B&B, Notyholo Bungane, says she is delighted with the growing trend. She is proof that township people are no longer content to be excluded from the tourism market. They have taken it upon themselves to ensure they are given a spot on the tourists’ itinerary.
This entrepreneurial spirit can be seen in the tourism ventures that are being undertaken by the township residents. Egazini Tours invites tourists to relive the 1819 Battle of Grahamstown through the eyes of Xhosa historians. The Masithandane Association, a group of township women who gather to work in converted shipping containers, perform traditional dances and sell their bags, mats and beadwork.