Department of Geography, Environmental & Tourism Studies (GETS)

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Activity-based market segmentation of visitors to thermal spring resorts in the Western Cape Province, South Africa: Assessing the potential for health tourism development
(University of the Western Cape, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, 2013) Boekstein, Mark; Spencer, John
There are eight thermal spring resorts in the Western Cape. Only one of these resorts has a focus on health and wellness, with the others functioning primarilyas family leisure resorts. Considering apparent domestic and international preferences, it would seem that a potentially valuable natural resource, that is, mineral-rich thermal spring water, is not being optimally utilized as a tourist attraction in the Western Cape. This research set out to assess the potential for health tourism development of thermal springs in the Western Cape. A questionnaire-based survey was undertaken, involving 383 respondents at six resorts, and activity-based market segmentation was carried out using k-means cluster analysis. A four-segment typology of current visitors, based on activity preferences, was compiled. It was found that the main divisions between visitors are, firstly, between �active� visitors who generally desire and make use of facilities and organised entertainment, and �passive� visitors, who make little to no use of facilities and organised entertainment; and secondly, between visitors who choose activities mainly for themselves, and those who choose activities for both themselves and their children. One of the four segments appears to show particular interest in both medical and wellness health tourism activities. However, most visitors, through their choice of activities, are able to gain considerable health benefits from their stays at thermal spring resorts, but they do so in different ways, and this is reflected in various combinations of active and passive activities.
African Migrants, Xenophobia and Urban Violence in Post-apartheid South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, 2013) Tevera, Daniel
The urban space in South Africa is increasingly becoming a troubled terrain of xenophobic violence. In recent years xenophobia has emerged as one of the major contributing factors to urban violence in several African countries and the phenomenon is becoming an urban management challenge that deserves academic inquiry and policy attention. Yet most of the academic research into the incidence and causes of xenophobic violence has not explored the connections between urbanity and xenophobia. This article aims to contribute to the debate by examining the broader relationship between xenophobia and urban violence in South African cities and by pulling together the latest literature into creating a better understanding of xenophobia in urban spaces. This article provides an assessment of xenophobia in contemporary South Africa within the context of the on-going and important debate regarding the extent to which poverty and poor service delivery are determinants of urban violence. In addition, it argues that debates surrounding the complex spaces of deprivation in urban areas, citizenship and belonging should be central to the discourses on violence in South Africa�s cities, which in many ways are still struggling to erase the imprint of apartheid. Xenophobic violence in cities is a phenomenon that deserves policy attention and direct intervention by central government, local authorities and community leaders.
'Africanisation' of South Africa's international air links, 1994-2003
(Elsevier, 2006) Pirie, Gordon
In the first decade of democratic rule in South Africa scheduled commercial passenger flights across the country�s borders more than doubled. Additional flights served new African air passenger markets and secondary airports in established markets. Overseas flights increased more slowly, serving a diminishing number of overseas countries and cities. In 1994 the Republic was linked directly by air with more overseas than African countries and cities; within a decade the pattern reversed. The changing geography of South Africa�s international air links reflects developments in the international airline industry, and South Africa�s increasingly prominent political and commercial role in Africa.
An analysis of crayfish street trading challenges in Paternoster
(University of the Western Cape, 2023) Ontong, Ashlin Theo; Dyssel, Michael
Located on South Africa�s West Coast is the small-fishing and tourist village of Paternoster which is defined and characterized by unspoilt white-washed beaches and cottages that are spread out along the coast. This town has a rich culture and marine biodiversity that attracts visitors from all walks of life. Paternoster is popular for its famous crayfish which has created a bustling commercial and restaurant sector which sustains both the local and some aspects of the national restaurant and seafood economy. This picturesque town is plagued by deep class and lucid racial divides cast between the wealthy (primarily white) communities and the poor (black, i.e. mainly coloured) communities.
Application of drone technologies in surface water resources monitoring and assessment: A systematic review of progress, challenges, and opportunities in the global south
(MPDI, 2021) Sibanda, Mbulisi; Mutanga, Onisimo; Chimonyo, Vimbayi G. P.
Accurate and timely information on surface water quality and quantity is critical for various applications, including irrigation agriculture. In-field water quality and quantity data from unmanned aerial vehicle systems (UAVs) could be useful in closing spatial data gaps through the generation of near-real-time, fine resolution, spatially explicit information required for water resources accounting. This study assessed the progress, opportunities, and challenges in mapping and modelling water quality and quantity using data from UAVs. To achieve this research objective, a systematic review was adopted. The results show modest progress in the utility of UAVs, especially in the global south. This could be attributed, in part, to high costs, a lack of relevant skills, and the regulations associated with drone procurement and operational costs. The progress is further compounded by a general lack of research focusing on UAV application in water resources monitoring and assessment. More importantly, the lack of robust and reliable water quantity and quality data needed to parameterise models remains challenging. However, there are opportunities to advance scientific inquiry for water quality and quantity accounting by integrating UAV data and machine learning.
Assessing sense of place amongst returnees of District Six, Cape Town
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Burgess, Ashleigh Georgia; Rink, Bradley
District Six was a pre-apartheid community destroyed by racialized forced relocations. Under the Group Areas Act of the apartheid rule, all District Six residents were forcibly relocated and scattered around the city and elsewhere. The area was obliterated and only places of worship were spared destruction. An affluent white inner-city suburb was one of the state's plans, but it was never realized as former residents protested this apartheid development objective. In the wake of the apartheid�s demise, a land restitution programme was enforced as one way of addressing the country's national recovery through the operations of the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, performed congruently with the Restitution of Land Rights Act (Act 22 of 1994). But this process has been dilatory and intermittent with respect to District Six, characterised as prolonged experiences of disappointment and occasional bursts of increased efficiency. Accordingly, only a handful of claimants have returned to District Six to date. Little is known about how the returnee community have reclaimed a sense of place in the re-settled District Six where only the immaterial memories still remain. This study thus seeks to fill that research gap through assessing sense of place amongst returnees of District Six. The study also recognizes that District Six is part of the corridor of rapid gentrification and seeks to explore how the by-products of gentrification stand to threaten the returnees� reconstituted sense of place. The study adopted a qualitative research methodology approach using the phenomenological/interpretivist approach. The qualitive methods used were semi-structured interviews, photo-elicitation interviews, and fieldnotes. These methods allowed for an in-depth exploration of the returnees� experiences of a sense of place in the re-settled District Six. The findings revealed complex renderings of place in District Six composed of memories and meaning-making from the past and present, contributing to geographical literatures on home, community and place. The findings of this study conclude that the relational geographies of District Six returnees are complex, multiple and ever-evolving while their struggle for home and a new sense of place is incomplete.
Assessing sense of place amongst returnees of District Six, Cape Town
(University of the Western Cape, 2022) Burgess, Ashleigh Georgia; Rink, Bradley
District Six was a pre-apartheid community destroyed by racialized forced relocations. Under the Group Areas Act of the apartheid rule, all District Six residents were forcibly relocated and scattered around the city and elsewhere. The area was obliterated and only places of worship were spared destruction. An affluent white inner-city suburb was one of the state's plans, but it was never realized as former residents protested this apartheid development objective. In the wake of the apartheid�s demise, a land restitution programme was enforced as one way of addressing the country's national recovery through the operations of the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, performed congruently with the Restitution of Land Rights Act (Act 22 of 1994). But this process has been dilatory and intermittent with respect to District Six, characterised as prolonged experiences of disappointment and occasional bursts of increased efficiency.
Assessing the prospects of remote sensing maize leaf area index using uav-derived multi-spectral data in smallholder farms across the growing season
(MDPI, 2023) Buthelezi, Siphiwokuhle; Mutanga, Onisimo; Sibanda, Mbulisi
Maize (Zea Mays) is one of the most valuable food crops in sub-Saharan Africa and is a critical component of local, national and regional economies. Whereas over 50% of maize production in the region is produced by smallholder farmers, spatially explicit information on smallholder farm maize production, which is necessary for optimizing productivity, remains scarce due to a lack of appropriate technologies. Maize leaf area index (LAI) is closely related to and influences its canopy physiological processes, which closely relate to its productivity. Hence, understanding maize LAI is critical in assessing maize crop productivity. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery in concert with vegetation indices (VIs) obtained at high spatial resolution provides appropriate technologies for determining maize LAI at a farm scale. Five DJI Matrice 300 UAV images were acquired during the maize growing season, and 57 vegetation indices (VIs) were generated from the derived images.
Assessment of cyclone idai floods on local food systems and disaster management responses in Mozambique and Zimbabwe
(Springer, Cham, 2021) Tevera, Daniel; Sibanda, Melusi; Mamba, Sipho Felix
In recent years, countries in southern Africa have experienced frequent hydro-meteorological disasters, such as widespread flooding caused by tropical cyclones. This chapter takes a close look at the destructive aspects of tropical cyclone Idai in Mozambique and Zimbabwe and the emergency disaster management responses. The chapter also seeks to understand the impact of the cyclone on food systems. The chapter is based on a desktop study that made use of scholarly publications and various media and organisation reports as the main sources of secondary data. A key finding of the study is that as the cyclone swept across the two countries, it exposed the fragilities of the local food systems, thereby presenting food insecurity challenges that potentially undermined the drive towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 on hunger eradication. The other finding is that the disaster management responses in both countries focussed on the emergency needs in the affected areas without giving much attention to making the food systems more resilient.
The Bakkie Brigade in Cape Town�s urban waste economy: exploring waste mobilities and the precariat
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Goeiman, Johnathan; Rink, Bradley
Solid waste management in South Africa is in a phase of transitioning. This transition entails the valorisation and diversion of recyclable waste away from landfills for the creation of a new secondary recycling economy. However, reclaimers within the Global South have been engaged in valorising waste through market-driven pricing. Localised and �informal� as they are, they remain a significant source of labour for global capital. Their presence runs parallel to the emergence of green models such as the circular economy, coupled with contentious initiatives that aim at formalising and integrating reclaimers. Given the revitalised emphasis on the urban waste economy, inadequate attention has been given to understanding the linkages between the formal processing companies and informal waste reclaimers operating at the level of the street and landfill.
Biting the hand that feeds you: Visitor perceptions of visitor-baboon interaction in the Cape Peninsula
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Sefela, Farren; Boekstein, Mark
The rapid increase in urbanisation and tourism in the Cape Peninsula has increased the rate of human-wildlife interaction. The Cape Peninsula is unique in terms of placing urban areas next to protected natural areas with no physical barriers, thus allowing animals, especially baboons, to travel between the two areas, occasionally leading to conflict between humans and wildlife. Visitors to popular tourist sites may also actively participate in feeding baboons or through negligence by leaving food items in the open. As a result, changing the habits of the baboons as human food and food waste are seen as the preferred option in terms of dietary habits. The main aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions and social construction of visitors in the Cape Peninsula towards baboons at tourist sites. Social constructionist theory was used as the theoretical framework for the study, which looks at the way people perceive nature and wildlife, which is unique to each person. The study uses an exploratory sequential mixed methods design, with a qualitative section that includes three semi-structured interviews, followed by a quantitative section consisting of a questionnaire survey, with 201 questionnaires being completed. The survey was conducted at key tourist sites around the Cape Peninsula that are well known for baboon sightings, including Bordjiesrif Picnic Site, Buffels Bay viewpoint, Cape of Good Hope/Cape Point and Dias Beach. The study used discourse analyses and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyse the data, which allowed for ideas to be labelled and linked to opinions in the literature, and patterns identified during the data collection. Visitors viewed tourism spaces as anthropocentric areas, and thus perceived baboon-visitor interactions through conditional acceptance. Visitor perceptions and social construction of baboon-visitor interactions may be positive when conditional acceptance is adhered to, and negative when conditional acceptance is broken. Recommendations for further research includes more research on non-consumptive tourism activities and its impact on human-wildlife interactions, with a need for more literature on the influence of education on people�s attitudes towards wildlife, and finally, more research that focuses on the changing behavioural ecology of baboons, due to an increase in tourism/visitation.
Black Belonging, White Belonging: Primitive Accumulation in South Africa's Private Nature Reserves
(Wiley, 2023) Thakholi, L; Koot, S
victions have been shown to be a mechanism of primitive accumulation in nature conservation. This paper adds an historical analysis to the discussion on primitive accumulation in conservation by exploring the seemingly innocuous mechanism of White belonging to land in South Africa's private nature reserves. Contemporary articulations of White belonging are replete with stories and images of White male �pioneers� from the colonial era who, upon arrival in �empty lands�, were able to create economies out of nothing. Such representations of history on private nature reserve websites and other promotional material invisibilise Black belonging and legitimise private conservation. By illuminating the inconsistencies in the empty lands narrative and the legacies of three championed conservation pioneers from the 19th century, this paper argues that White belonging is a mechanism of primitive accumulation, while Black belonging continues to be expressed in various ways in contemporary South Africa.
Boon or bane? Urban food security and online food purchasing during the Covid-19 epidemic in Nanjing, China
(MDPI, 2022) Liang, Yajia; Zhong, Taiyang; Crush, Jonathan
This paper examines the relationship between the rapid growth of online food purchasing and household food security during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China using the city of Nanjing as a case study. The paper presents the results of an online survey of 968 households in Nanjing in March 2020 focused on their food purchasing behavior and levels of food security during the early weeks of the pandemic. While online food purchasing has increased rapidly in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, little research attention has been paid to the relationship between online food purchasing and household food security. This paper provides detailed insights into this relationship in China. The medium- and longer-term food security and other consequences of the pandemic pivot to online food purchasing are a fertile area for future research in China and elsewhere.
Boundaries of benefit sharing: interpretation and application of substantive rules in the Lake Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa sub?basin of the Zambezi Watercourse
(Springer, 2023) Fatch, Joanna; Bolding, Alex; Swatuk, Larry A.
questions regarding how riparian states determine �who gets what, where, and why� in a shared watercourse. To facilitate peaceful coexistence, substantive rules��equitable and reasonable utilisation (ERU)� and �the duty to prevent the causing of significant harm�� define rights and responsibilities of riparian states in the utilisation of shared watercourses. The duty of riparian states to cooperate, as a principle of international law, plays an important part in realising these substantive rules. This article critically reflects on the principles underlying transboundary water management by focusing on the interpretation and application of substantive rules in the Lake Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa sub-basin of the Zambezi River Basin in Southern Africa. The case study demonstrates how interpretation and application of international water law are generally in line with customary practices, but are subject to highly localised decision contexts which challenge Southern African Development Community (SADC) attempts to establish a firm legal foundation upon which to guide access, use and management across the region�s shared river basins.
The breadbasket of Cape Town: Exploring the links between urban agriculture, land use and food security in the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA)
(University of the Western Cape, 2019) Donn-Arnold, Natasha; Tevera, Dan
Hunger is more than just a feeling, it is the lack of access to safe nutritious food, which in turn may result in anger towards government, low performance, sadness and a limited will to survive. Urban agriculture has been identified as a source of livelihood for many urban residents and could fundamentally change food insecure cities like Cape Town. The Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) is one such place with an enormous amount of potential to assist the City of Cape Town (CCT) to overcome food insecurity challenges. The PHA is the focus of this thesis that aims to determine the impacts that housing and industrial developments in the PHA have had, and might have in the future, on food security in the Greater Cape Town Area (GCTA). The specific objectives of the study are as follows: (1) To investigate the urban agricultural distribution of the PHA; (2) to investigate agricultural facilitation, people empowerment and the use of land for agricultural purposes; (3) To determine the level of access to food for people within and around the PHA; and (4) To examine the links between the urban agricultural food sector and food production.
Camp Lwandle: Rehabilitating a migrant labour hostel at the seaside
(Routledge Taylor Francis Group, 2013) Murray, No�leen; Witz, Leslie
In southern African narratives of migrant labour, hostels and compounds are represented as typical examples of colonial and apartheid planning. Visual and spatial comparisons are consistently made between the regulatory power of hostels and those of concentration camps. Several of these sites of violence and repression are today being reconfigured as sites of conscience, their artefactual presence on the landscape being constructed as places of remembrance. In this trajectory, a space of seeming anonymity in Lwandle, some 40 km outside of Cape Town, was identified by the newly established museum, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, as a structure of significance. The migrant labour compound in Lwandle, of which Hostel 33 is the last remnant, was designed by planners and engineers and laid out as part of a labour camp for male migrant workers in the 1950s. This article explores the ambitious project initiated in 2008, by the Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum (and funded largely by the US Ambassadors Cultural Restoration Fund), to restore Hostel 33. Although Hostel 33 was not a very old structure, having been built in 1958/9, nor was it easily considered to have conventional architectural significance, its material presence in present-day Lwandle represents a reminder of the conditions of life in the labour camp. The article traces the work entailed in the restoration process through paying attention to both the built fabric and its materiality, and by giving an account of the explorations into finding ways to restore the hostel to the museum through making it into a site of significance. In place of the centrality of the building as the object of restoration, the work shifted to considering how the hostel could function most effectively as a stage and destination for the Museum�s narrations of the past. Retaining and maintaining Hostel 33 was less concerned with the fabric as an empirical fact of the past, than with its projection into an envisaged future for museum purposes.
Cape Town as Africa's gateway for tourism to Antarctica - development potential and need for regulation
(2014) Boekstein, Mark
Cape Town is one of the five Antarctic gateway cities from which ships and aircraft travel to and from various parts of Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands. Gateway cities are used by government scientific expeditions, as well as for tourism. While tourism to Antarctica is increasing rapidly, most of it occurs from the South American gateways of Ushuaia and Punta Arenas, and to a lesser extent from Christchurch (New Zealand) and Hobart (Australia). The Cape Town-Antarctica tourism industry is relatively undeveloped in comparison to other gateway cities, mainly because the distance to Antarctica from the South American gateways is considerably less than from Cape Town. In 2009 the City of Cape Town signed the Southern Rim Gateway Cities Agreement, joining the other gateway cities in an agreement to cooperate on issues such as science, education, logistics, business opportunities and tourism. Tourism to Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands, and the regulation thereof, is discussed in the light of the fact that South Africa, unlike countries like Australia, does not have any specific policy to develop or regulate tourism to Antarctica, neither to its own bases, nor to other parts of Antarctica accessible from Cape Town by ship or air. This paper considers the development potential of Cape Town as a gateway for tourism to Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands, with recommendations for particular types of tourism development, in specific locations, and suggestions for both growing and regulating the industry.
Church and rural development: A geographical analysis of Elim
(University of the Western Cape, 1992) Engel, Brian Patrick; Redlinghuis, A.C.
The pivotal role of the Moravian Church in development in Elim, a mission station situated approximately 170 kilometres southeast of Cape Town, is the central theme of this geographical analysis. The broader debate around Church and rural development serves as a background for this analysis. It is the contention of this thesis that the distinctiveness in the administrative structure of Elim had and will continue to have a profound influence on the development of the settlement. The theory of State, with specific reference to the role of the State in social transformation, is used as a theoretical framework. Acknowledging the vastness of the broader theory of State this thesis focuses on the structure of the State and its capacity to intervene in development. Max Weber's contention of the importance of an efficient bureaucratic structure is used as analytical tool. People are deemed as central to the continuous process of development. The empirical study undertaken expresses the perceptions of the people involved with development in Elim. Both quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative methods (structured interviews) were used to obtain the relevant data, thus overcoming their respective limitations. The socio-economic context in EIim serves as the background against which the bureaucratic structure operates. This bureaucratic structure distinguishes two levels of government. These are the local government in Eiim and the central government of the Moravian Church in Southern Africa respectively. The inter-relationship between these levels of government is explored Given the theoretical framework within which this study was undertaken, a restructuring of the bureaucratic structure is deemed as the core around which transformation and development in EIim must be undertaken. This should in turn enhance the socio-economic development of the settlement. The question of a reform of land use on the local level is of great importance to future development in Elim. Finally, participation by the people remains the core around which development in Elim should revolve.
Climate variability: Human management response to environmental changes in Touws River valley and Makolokwe
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Llale, Semakaleng; Grenfell, Suzanne; Brooks, Shirley
Climate has been changing significantly around the globe; hence climate variability is of great interest to researchers. The changes in climate have caused variances in rainfall and temperature, both elements of paramount importance in farming, whether commercial or communal farming. As these fluctuations in temperature and rainfall occur, they cause direct impacts on different livelihoods, fauna and flora. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the human management responses of farmers in two different contexts of communal farming (Makolokwe) and commercial farming (Touws River valley), with a focus investigation on the adaptation and coping strategies of the farmers, as well as spatial analysis of the vegetation and rainfall variability. Farmers were asked to discuss climate and adaptation based on the rainfall data available as well as far as they could remember the occurrence of changes. Rainfall data was available between 1988 and 2017 for Touws River, while the data utilised for Makolokwe was available between 1928 and 2016. The link between the local knowledge of the farmers and scientific knowledge is an important aspect of this research. The Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to analyse the vegetation changes on a temporal and spatial scale in the context of Makolokwe and Touws River valley respectively. The differing variations in climate variability and change experienced by the two farming communities are placed alongside an exploration of the adaptation and coping measures which are put in place by farmers as a response to the changes evident in climate, as it allows for better and thorough understanding of the occurring changes in the two communities. The study found that perceptions about climate variability vary in the two communities although there are some common factors. Farmers� perceptions about climate variability are drawn from their own observations at a local level as well as knowledge from the media regarding terms such as El Ni�o and drought. Farmers in both communities indicated that they experienced insufficient rain in the winter months which had an impact on the grazing areas and the management of the livestock. These months also threatened livelihoods, especially for farmers who depend on their livestock for their livelihood, in particular communal farmers. Perceptions of factors such as decreasing grazing and vegetation in their environments have led to the adoption of adaptation and coping strategies on the part of farmers. Commercial farmers have more choices in this regard than communal farmers, such as converting to game farming. Common coping strategies include: (1) farmers have had to subsidise and use alternative food sources for the livestock, (2) livestock numbers have been reduced in order to adapt to climate variability, with an impact on livelihoods (3) farmers have had to rely on their hope and faith that things will get better. Planning for climate variability is challenging for land managers. Knowledge and access to resources is therefore essential in ensuring that farmers are kept on track with the changing environment.
The colonisation of the Geographical mind: A critical contextual analysis of the institutionalisation and establishment of Geography as an academic discipline in South Africa
(University of Western Cape, 1992) Wesso, Harold Moses; van Zyl, J .A .; le Roux, ?Petrus; Groenewald, C
The history of geography is much more than the mere listing of the names and publications of great geographers, identifying different research traditions, or searching for paradigms. The history of geography ought to be seen within the context of the society of which it is an integral part.

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