Whose Mecca? Divergent experiences of post-productivism and tourism in Nieu Bethesda, South Africa

Abstract

Nieu Bethesda has experienced a revival in the past 20 years, which has been linked to the development of an economy based on post-productivism and tourism activities. Its authentic rural lifestyle offerings have an appeal to the creative class and have encouraged an increase in second home ownership and short-term visitors. This article explores the effects that these phenomena have had on the impoverished residents of the township of Pienaarsig. It also explores these residents' visions for their town and the extent to which they perceived their voices were heard within the visioning and development process. Findings show that there are limited local economic multipliers in the village and limited involvement and benefits from tourism for Pienaarsig residents. Unemployment and welfare dependency are high and social issues such as alcoholism, rape and domestic violence are concerning. In addition, the community is divided along race and socio-economic lines and racism is present in some community interactions. In essence, the Pienaarsig community largely feels disenfranchised, disempowered and hopeless. These issues need to be addressed by the local municipality in the form of a ‘robust and inclusive’ local economic development policy that will bring about the well-being of the majority of residents.

Keywords:

• South Africa
• Nieu Bethesda
• LED
• post-productivism
• tourism
• participation

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professor Ian Meiklejohn, Department of Geography, Rhodes University, for generating the map that appears in this article. In addition, we would like to thank the reviewers who gave helpful comments that, indubitably, improved this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.