4.2 Local community living adjacent to HiP
4.2.1 Demographic profile of respondents
The background information of community respondents is presented in relation to their gender, age, racial classification, nationality, home language, education level, marital status, disability and occupation.
Table 4. 1: Gender of respondents
Gender Frequency (n= 130) Percentage
Male 47 36.2
Female 83 63.8
The results indicate that 63.8% of respondents were female as compared to 36.2% who were male (Table 4.1). When the researcher asked a few respondents to give reasons for such results, the responses were that the women are generally at home whereas men are at work either on the plantations, forests or in the urban areas such as Richards Bay, Empangeni, Durban and Johannesburg. This is in keeping with migratory patterns identified in the literature as well as the prominence of female headedness (Collinson, 2010). It therefore,
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implies that there is a need to provide the people with either life skills in order to create their own jobs or the basic facilities such as health, literacy and adult education. This in the long run will improve on the quality of life as well as the living standards of rural communities.
Furthermore, the questionnaires were administered in the morning when women have more time while carrying out household tasks.
Table 4. 2: Age of respondents
Age Frequency (n= 130) Percentage
18-25 years 14 10.8
26-35 years 43 33.1
36-45 years 38 29.2
46-55 years 24 18.5
56-65 years 11 8.5
The average age of the respondents was 38.1 years and ranged from 18 years to 65 years as shown in Table 4.2.The majority of respondents were in the 26-35 years range that made up a total of 33.1%. The 36-45 years group who made up 29.2% follows this age group closely.
The least number of respondents belonged to the more than 65 years old age group (8.5%) and the less than 25 years old (10.8%). The results of the survey indicate that there was a greater response from the respondents of 26-35 years and this could be attributed to two reasons. Firstly, most of the community members of 25 years and below were absent during the survey period. The researcher learnt from the respondents that due to high unemployment rate in the area a significant proportion of younger people have relocated to urban areas in search of employment. Secondly, it is the elderly who are perceived to have most of the information and knowledge. The results, therefore, imply that there is a need to create jobs for younger generation who will remain in the community. Furthermore, it will be important to integrate the knowledge of the elders into the process of community-based ecotourism ventures.
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Table 4. 3: Race, nationality and languages of respondents
Race Frequency (n=130) Percentage (100)
African 129 99.2
White 1 0.8
Nationality
South African 125 96.2
Nigerian 5 3.8
Language
English 8 6.2
IsiZulu 115 88.5
IsiXhosa 7 5.4
In terms of racial classification, the majority of the respondents in the Nompondo community were Africans (99.2%) and one White was interviewed (Table 4.3). With regard to nationality, 96.2% of the respondents were South African and only 3.8% were Nigerians. The researcher learnt from the respondents in the Nompondo community that Nigerians were working in the area as teachers and some were running small spaza shops. In terms of home language, a significant portion of the respondents in the community speak isiZulu (88.5%), English (6.2%) and isiXhosa (5.4%). The 2011 Census data also indicated the trend that is similar to this in the UMkhanyakude District Municipality, where the majority of the people are Africans and the main language that is spoken is isiZulu. This is in line with what the researcher has observed in this study.
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Table 4. 4: Education level, marital status and disability status of respondents
Education Frequency (n=130) Percentage (100)
No education 39 30.8
Level 1 (preschool) 22 16.9
Level 2 (Grade7) 23 17.7
Level 3 (Grade10) 13 10.0
Level 4 (Grade 12) 23 17.7
Level 5 (diploma/degree) 10 6.9
Marital status
Currently married 46 35.4
Single 56 43.1
Widowed 2 1.5
Separated 5 3.8
Living with a partner 21 16.2
Disability
Yes 4 3.1
No 126 96.9
Thirty percent of the respondents from the Nompondo community had no formal education and only 17.7% of the respondents had matriculated. In addition to this, only 6.9% had a formal qualification in the form of a diploma or a degree (Table 4.4). However, only 16.9%
had level 1, 17.7% had level 2 and 10.0% had level 3 education. The respondents could pursue some form of training related to ecotourism. Loon et al. (2007) describe “Teach the Teachers” and “Reach and Teach Education” programmes which are implemented at the Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve. These coordinated education programmes involve workshops at the Reserve and expose rural teachers to the relationship between ecotourism, conservation and communities (Loon et al., 2007).
The majority of the respondents in the Nompondo community (43.1%) were single, followed by currently married (35.4%). Some respondents in this community indicated that they were living with a partner (16.2%), separated (3.8%) and only 1.5% indicated that they were widowed.
Three percent of the respondents living near the HiP stated that they were disabled. Kotze and Dippenaar (2004) emphasise that people with disabilities find it difficult to come into their own in a world that focuses on the needs of able-bodied individuals. It seems that greater care should be taken to familiarise the built environment for the benefit of the disadvantaged group of people. In terms of recreational activities, stigmatisation and inadequate opportunities are one of the greatest sources of stress for people with disabilities. The
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disabled people from the Nompondo community may require specific tactics of support and aid in order to ensure that they have adequate access and opportunities to participate completely within the ecotourism sector.
Table 4. 5: Occupation of respondents
Occupation Frequency (n=130) Percentage (100)
Unemployed 100 77.7
Domestic 8 6.2
Labourer 3 2.3
Manager 2 1.5
Professional 5 3.8
Pensioner 12 8.5
Table 4.5 shows that the unemployment level of the Nompondo community is very high. The majority of the respondents (77.7%) who live adjacent to HiP are unemployed. Allen and Brennan (2004: 258) argue that “millions of workers live in awful poverty. There is a chronic housing shortage and millions of families, in spite of the pledges made by the African National Congress (ANC) in 1994, still lack basic facilities such as fresh water supply and adequate sanitation. Unemployment runs at 40% and over half million jobs have been lost since the ANC came into power”. The households in this study in part reflect the situation described by Vally and Spreen (2014), especially in relation to high unemployment rates and lack of basic infrastructure and services as will be discussed later.
The employed respondents who lived in the Nompondo community consisted mainly of domestic workers (6.2%), professionals (3.8%) and managers (1.5%). In order to remedy the high levels of unemployment, management at HiP should consider adopting the employment model that was adopted at the Sabi Private Game Reserve as indicated by Loon et al. (2007:
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Sabi’s commitment to the practice of fair trade with regards to working conditions, employment principles, conservation and sustainability go back to its earliest days, before these issues were in the spotlight. As early as 1985, Sabi instituted employment practices that saw staff, drawn mainly from local communities, rewarded and recognised for their efforts and promoted to senior positions of responsibility. Sabi realised that laying a foundations of a sustainable business that embraced local communities was the only way the resort would survive and flourish into the future.
The policies and decades of groundwork have paid off and the resort is proud to put
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the South Africa’s first recipient of the Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) trademark.