The role of women in tourism in KwaZulu-Natal

abstract

In precolonial Africa patriarchal divisions of labour by gender emphasised and reinforced ‘normative’ women’s productive and reproductive roles (Guy, 1987; Eldredge, 1993). Vertical control of labour power by men denied most women the possession of cattle and land, which were the primary source of wealth. Such unequal relations bolstered chiefly power and precolonial state formation in Africa. Colonial and apartheid penetration in South Africa (SA) tapped into these local relations of gendered power, sometimes entrenching patriarchal schemas in collaboration with African men to suit colonial interests (Schmidt, 1992). These precolonial, colonial and apartheid patriarchal and gendered relations of power continued to be sustained within the public and private domains of SA (Bozzoli, 1983). The liberation struggle, and the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in the 1990s addressed political issues in the hope that political freedoms would inevitably tackle other wider social struggles. Such disparities in approach to freedom left the agency of previously disadvantaged groups, notably women, outside the scope of political attention, and frustrated women’s attempts to balance their pre-1994 accounts with the discourse of a democratic SA.

Literature has much to say about how tourism benefits in the new SA should be extended to previously disadvantaged communities, mainly black people. As part of Local Economic Development vision and tourism policy initiative, the South African Government promotes a pro-poor tourism development strategy, local community participation, skills development, job creation, poverty reduction and, ultimately, tourism-based economic developments in black residential areas such as townships and rural villages. Examination of the current literature, however, suggests that gender inequality remains a strong component in tourism. Such unequal, gender-based relations impinge on the development of black African rural women in tourism. Using a case study of the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) this article discusses the intersection of race and gender in the study of tourism in KZN and SA in general. It concludes that as the tourism industry grows in SA, attention should be given to analysis of the role of women, specifically black African rural women, as one of the innovative paradigms in tourism. There is a need for a fresh focus on the subjective development, fundamental issues and competitive advantage of black African rural women striving for a fair chance in the tourism economy.

keywords:

• women
• tourism
• gender
• patriarchy
• intersectionality
• rural
• development
• democracy

Notes

1 As one of 21 SETAs, the Culture, Art, Tourism, Hospitality, and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA), was established under the Skills Development Act (No. 97 of 1998) in 2001. Before April 2012 CATHSSETA was known as the Tourism and Hospitality Education and Training Authority. Its mandate is to facilitate skills development within its subsectors through the disbursement of grants for learning programmes and monitoring of education and training as outlined in the National Skills Development Strategy. CATHSSETA’s subsectors are Arts, Culture and Heritage, Conservation, Gaming and Lotteries, Hospitality, Sport, Recreation and Fitness, Travel and Tourism.

2 Under the homeland system (in the 1950s) Africans in SA were grouped according to their language, for example, isiZulu speakers in KZN (then the KwaZulu Homeland). Africans were supposedly holding to distinctive sets of practices and common belief systems in each homeland. The majority of disadvantaged black South Africans still live in such geographical spaces.

3 Siyazisiza Trust was established as an organisation in 1987 to help poor communities in northern KZN and later other parts of the province. In 1999 a daughter organisation known as Khumbulani Craft was founded as a separate entity. Khumbulani Craft’s vision was to contribute towards poverty alleviation in rural communities through the production, marketing and sale of traditional and contemporary craft. In 2012 Khumbulani Craft merged with the Siyazisiza Trust into one legal entity, the Siyazisiza Trust. At present The Khumbulani Collection is the brand name of Siyazisiza Trust’s craft.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gabi Mkhize

GABI MKHIZE is a lecturer in the Gender Studies Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She has a PhD in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from The Ohio State University in the USA. Prior to this she taught at Denison University and The Ohio State University, both in Ohio. Her research interests are gender and development, transnational feminisms, intersectionality, postcolonial feminism, gendered violence, identity politics, disability and gender, and black studies. Email: [email protected]

Nokuthula Cele

NOKUTHULA CELE is a lecturer in the Culture and Heritage Tourism Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Howard College campus. She has a PhD degree in History from Michigan State University in the USA. Before joining UKZN she taught for a year at Hope College, Michigan. Her research interests include mainly marine-related studies, violence, human settlements, identity and women. Email: [email protected]