Browsing by Author "Gumede, Zenzele Simon"

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    Shongweni Resources Reserve : community participation, preferences and perceptions
    (2003) Gumede, Zenzele Simon; Magi, L.M.
    The study was conducted in the light of the background that there is a rising concern from the government that the companies should give socio-economical benefits to the local communities. In the aspect of recreation and tourism the Department of Sports and Recreation (DSR) is expecting the reserve to give the socio-economical benefits to the local communities in a very participatory way. The reason above led to the initiatives to explore at the local reserve, which is Shongweni Resources Reserve whether it co-operates with what have been said in the white paper. For example the White Paper (1994:35) said Recreation development should be demand driven and community based. It also said communities must be empowered to participate in the planning, implementation and evaluation of recreation programmes. The people responsible for looking at that realised that there was poor relationship between the Shongweni Resources Reserve and local communities. It was from that perspective that there was a need for someone to conduct a study that would look at their relationship and the reasons and motives behind that relationship. The study had specific objectives to be explored, which are: • To determine the relationship between the local communities and the reserve. • To establish whether the communities are being involved or participate in the reserve activities. • Investigate whether there is any development initiative the reserve is offering to the local community. • Find out whether the local people are aware of the kind of socio- economic development they can get from the reserve. All these four objectives have been met because the whole study was formulated around these objectives. The study looked at the relation between local communities and the reserve and found that it is not healthy. It also looked at the communities whether they are involved or not, and found that they are very participating. The development initiatives the reserve is offering to local communities have been also explored and the findings showed that there are development initiatives the reserve is offering to the communities. The issue of whether the local people are aware of the kind of socio-economic development they can get from the reserve was also looked at, and found that the local people are not aware of the type of socio-economic development. There are also expectations that have been formulated as guidelines for the study. There were four expectations that had been formulated, and out of those four expectations half of them have been proven correctly and half of them have been proven wrong. The expectations that have been formulated are: • That there is poor relationship between the local communities and the reserve. • That the local communities are less involved in the activities of the reserve. • That there are inadequate recreation and tourism development initiatives offered to the local communities. • That the local people are not aware of the socio-economic development benefits for them in the reserve. There were different findings that were found. Most of the people considered development as medium and the community members are prepared to take the responsibilities of the development of the Shongweni Resources Reserve. They are fairly involved in the management and maintenance of the reserve. The involvement of communities in participating for the recreation activities is happening. This has happened by considering the period and the frequency of their participation, which have positive responses. The communities are also allowed to use recreation activities found in the reserve. When considering the socio-economical aspects, the reserve is giving very less economical aspects to the local communities. They are not allowed to sell their crafts and to cut wood for carving, and there are very few local employees. There are various factors that were found to be the cause of bad relationship. One of them was the communities were not clear about community benefits they should get from the reserve. The recommendations that have been surfaced are that the reserve should be transparent, socio-economical improvement, and to conduct the future study that would involve the Shongweni Resources Reserve staff to include their perspectives.
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    Tourism participation in the Isimangaliso wetland park: perceptions, practices and prospects
    (2009) Gumede, Zenzele Simon; Ngcobo, N.R; Magi, L.M.
    There has been turmoil between the Isimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and the Khula village community located adjacent to it. Khula village community members have been trespassing into the park and conducting illegal activities. Some of these include: killing wild animals, cutting trees for wood carving and medicinal purposes without permission from the Isimangaliso Wetland Park Authority. In addition, the number of hijacked tourist cars in the area is increasing and other serious criminal activities directed to tourists are becoming very common. All these illegal activities are progressively contributing, not only to the gradual deterioration of the status of the resources, but also to the spoiled relationship between the authorities, tourists and the community around the Isimangaliso Wetland Park. These occurrences are impacting adversely on the park as a tourist destination. What is implicit is that tourist visitation numbers at the Wetland Park will drop, and these reduced numbers of tourists that will affect the employment rate within the local community. Pursuant to these observations and problems, the researcher found it appealing and necessary to explore the relationship between the Isimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and Khula village community. This would be achieved by investigating the participation, practices, and patterns associated with the administration of the Isimangaliso Wetland Park. In an attempt to address the research question or problem, the following research objectives were set up: • To reveal the extent to which the local community is aware of the importance of tourism in the study area • To establish whether the communities do participate in the reserve activities that bring in income • To determine the existing type of relationship between the local communities and the park authorities • To explore whether the communities are given a platform to express their preferences about the park • To investigate whether there are any development initiatives the reserve is offering to the local community. The research methodology used to execute the objectives of the research study involved collecting information from the local community of Khula Village, Isimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and KwaZulu-Natal Ezemvelo Wildlife. Data was collected by means of sets of questionnaires. The data collected was analysed using the SPSS computer statistical package, which led to getting the research findings. There were various findings that emerged and were deduced from the research data analysed. The findings showed that a dual relationship between the local community and Park Authorities. On the one side it was good because of the social involvement of local communities in the activities of the Park, whereas, on the other side, the lack of economic participation affected the relationship negatively. The findings showed that, among the respondents from the study area, a limited number of people had had access to tertiary education. It is believed that the lack of tertian7 education influenced the availability of skills that resulted in a small number of people participating in activities that would bring economic benefit as opposed to social benefits. Social benefits were enjoyed by a larger number of the respondents whereas economic benefits were only experienced by few. Furthermore, these economic benefits were experienced through activities, which brought income to the local communities such as harvesting wood for carving and craft making. Some benefits involved the performance of cultural activities to tourists, whereby community participants were paid money for the services. The cited benefits reflect some of the important solutions to the research problem of this study.