Community-Based sustainable tourism on commonages : an alternative to traditional land reform in Namaqualand, Northern Cape Province

Abstract

Since 1994, the South African Government has developed two strategic policies that embrace the principles of sustainable development: Tourism and Land Reform. Both policies seek redress and economic development for previously disadvantaged black people, but both policies were not integrated to form part of a sustainable development strategy for communities. In terms of the land redistribution programme (as one leg of the land reform programme), the commonage sub-programme has primarily advocated an agrarian style development despite the decline in contribution of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product. By promoting one development option, other livelihood opportunities such as tourism have not been explored. The White Paper on Tourism (1996) has also recognised the limited integration of local communities and previously neglected groups as an impediment to sustainable tourism development in South Africa. The aim of this study is to provide integrated planning guidelines for sustainable tourism development for commonages in Namaqualand. The study poses the question: What role could sustainable tourism play in commonage projects? In an attempt to fulfil the aim of the study and answer the research question, nine objectives were devised to guide the direction of the study. The objectives primarily focussed on conceptualising land redistribution and sustainable tourism through various local and international case studies in order to draw commonalities and identify negative and positive impacts of these approaches. In so doing, the sustainability of a purely agrarian focus of land reform policies across the global spectrum was brought into question. Various debates concerning the sustainable tourism concept are also considered, including a discussion on its subset ecotourism and sustainable tourism through Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM). The sustainability of tourism in peripheral and desert areas is discussed in the context of the case-study area, Namaqualand, which is recognised geographically and politically as a rural/peripheral area featuring a desert ecosystem. The methodological theory is derived from the Critical Social Science school of thought, which sees the study delving beyond surface illusions to uncover the real structures in order to help people change the world. A six-step case-study approach based on this paradigm was adopted. Six commonage projects and one sustainable tourism project (Rooiberg Conservancy project) were selected through non-probability purposive sampling. In adopting the case-study approach, the study followed six steps: Determination and definition of the research questions <ul> <ol>1. Selection of the cases and determination of the data gathering and analysis techniques</ol> <ol>2. Preparation to collect the data</ol> <ol>3. Collection of the data</ol> <ol>4. Analyses of the data</ol> <ol>5. Formulation of the recommendations based on the results obtained from data.</ol></ul> The synthesis of the literature and empirical research resulted in the formulation of integrated planning guidelines for sustainable tourism on commonages based on the concept of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) approach, as adopted for local government planning in South Africa. The following factors formed the basis for the guidelines:< <ul> -- baseline information; -- vision and goals; -- objectives; -- legislation and control measures; -- impact management and mitigation; -- communication and decision-making; -- implementation including funding incentives; -- monitoring and evaluation; and -- feedback and control.</ul> Limitations of time and finance prevented the researcher from consulting with the appropriate stakeholders on these guidelines in order to obtain their buy-in, but emphasis is placed on the recognition of the guidelines as a framework for comprehensive sector-planning for sustainable tourism development on commonages in Namaqualand. Copyright