Tourism-led development in South Africa: a case study of the Makuleke partnership with Wilderness Safaris
Date
2012-02-29
Authors
Shehab, May
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Through
a
case
study
of
the
relationship
between
the
rural
Makuleke
community
and
the
regional
tourism
operator
Wilderness
Safaris,
this
thesis
examines
the
impact
of
tourism
partnerships
on
community
development
in
post-‐
apartheid
South
Africa.
The
study
considers
the
tourism
component
of
the
‘Makuleke
model’,
a
concept
used
frequently
in
academic
and
popular
literature
to
refer
to
the
community’s
landmark
land
restitution
case
involving
the
Kruger
National
Park
(KNP).
Thirty
years
after
experiencing
a
forced
removal
by
the
apartheid
regime,
the
Makuleke
community
in
1998
was
able
to
regain
their
lost
land
(the
Pafuri
area
of
Kruger
National
Park)
and
benefit
from
it
through
conservation
and
tourism.
The
Makuleke
have
partnered
with
three
tourism
operators,
their
main
concessionaire
being
Wilderness
Safaris.
Their
contractual
agreement
obliges
the
tourism
company
to
pay
lease
fees
to
the
Makuleke
Communal
Property
Association
(CPA)
and
to
employ
Makuleke
residents.
To
further
community
development,
Wilderness
Safaris
established
a
joint
venture
with
the
Makuleke
CPA,
and
also
runs
an
environmental
education
programme
for
children.
Evidence
for
this
thesis
was
collected
over
a
two
and
a
half
year
period
(from
May
2007
to
December
2009)
using
three
methodological
approaches:
archival
research,
participant
observation
and
semi-‐structured,
open-‐ended
interviews.
In
analysing
the
Makuleke
CPA-‐Wilderness
Safaris
partnership,
findings
reveal
that
ten
years
after
the
land
claim,
the
commended
‘Makuleke
model’
is
neither
as
conceptually
coherent
nor
as
practically
successful
as
is
commonly
supposed.
I
argue
that
although
the
model
denotes
success,
a
closer
scrutiny
of
its
foundations,
assumptions
and
context
expose
inherent
forces
and
practices
that
hinder
its
long-‐
term
effective
implementation.
Influenced
by
post-‐development
theory,
I
question
perceptions
of equality in
benefit
distribution,
critique
the
juxtaposition
of
traditional
with
modern
values,
and
examine
contestations
over
power
within
the
Makuleke
community.
I
demonstrate
how
these
features
undermine
the
potential
for
the
genuine
transformation
and
broad-‐based
social
upliftment
that
tourism-‐led
development
purposes
to
achieve
at
Makuleke.
My
research
findings
confirm
post-‐development
theoretical
propositions
that
criticise
the
contradictions
in
orthodox
development
procedures
and
call
for
a
rethinking
of
the
premises
upon
which
approaches
to community upliftment through tourism are generally founded.
Description
PH.D., Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011
Keywords
Tourism, South Africa, Kruger National Park, Makuleke, Wilderness Safaris, traditional leadership, land claims, rural development, post-development theory