Tourism

A friend recently mailed me an article from the Washington Post about tourism in South Africa and asked what I thought. It mainly talked about the big attractions that South Africa has to offer, "Big cats, Zulus and big cities make South African tourism boom," alluding to ample wildlife, culture and cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
It's true: there are plenty of opportunities to view wildlife. But at private game lodges or national parks because the big animals are fenced-in. An escaped elephant or hippopotamus is worthy of news coverage and many people in my village have never seen one of the big five (lion, leopard, water buffalo, elephant, and rhinoceros) although all of these animals are 20 km from the village.
It's also true that the Rainbow nation offers diverse and interesting cultural displays including a wide variety of food, dances, songs and clothing. But the opportunities to see these cultural displays are usually at 'cultural villages' like Lesedi Culture Village and Shakaland. Traditional culture is slowly fading out of the rural villages as villagers move away and adopt more and more Western culture into their own.
Cape Town is beautiful. Johannesburg is big and brash and offers a glimpse into the country's history. Durban offers a mile of beaches and tons of delicious Indian food.
Tourism is about to become the largest economic sector in South Africa and it will continue to grow as the 2010 soccer world cup approaches. But, the exceptions are large. Few South Africans are able to enjoy what their country offers or aware of its assets. Few tourists visit or know how the majority of South Africans live (in a township or former homeland with very little money). In tourism (like most of South African life) there are two South Africas, the one that the world sees that is dynamic and moving into the 21st century and every where else.