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The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town Nature and Power: A Critique of 'People-Based Conservation' at South Africa's Madikwe Game Reserve Sarah Bologna . University of Cape Town Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Social Anthropology University of Cape Town 2008 Declaration This work has not been previously submitted in whole, or in part, for the award of any other degree. It is my own work. Each significant contribution to, and quotation in, this dissertation from the work of other people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced. Date: 13 re~~ 2to~ . University of Cape Town ii Abstract People-based conservation is often portrayed as a mutually beneficial marrying of ecological and rural development objectives. In this thesis I examine the extent to which such approaches are indeed as ideal as the rhetoric suggests. Drawing on empirical ethnographic data gathered from Madikwe Game Reserve and three villages neighbouring it in South Africa's North West Province, I argue that people-based approaches to conservation and rural development are constrained by a number of factors. I show that they seem unable to operate independently of hegemonic development discourse, or to avoid using paradigmatic models that encourage gross simplifications. Their use of generalising models encourages binary thinking which precludes a sensitive understanding oflocal complexities. The neo liberal language that generally accompanies such approaches obscures how power operates both locally and regionally. Indeed, rhetorical changes from top-down to bottom-up, _people-centred routes to conservation and development seem to have little effect on the actual implementation of initiatives: local people have remained marginalised or excluded. In the Madikwe context, a politically correct over-emphasis on rural development rather than conServation meant that an economic definition of Madikwe as a potentially sUstainable business dominated the Madikwe project. Conservation was (rhetorically) sidelined.University Villagers were expected of Capeto benefit through Town a share in profits derived from ecotourism - not through visiting and sharing in the nation's natural heritage. Thus, the Reserve was the exclusive domain of privileged visitors, while villagers were denied access. Such an approach revealed that the managing agencies held a particularly synchronic view of development to which short-term economic benefits were central. It contrasted strongly with that of many villagers who argued that a major role ofthe Reserve should be to expose local school children to its conservation and tourism operations, to educate and encourage them in order that one day they might command top jobs within the Reserve. They argued that it was only through the long-term investment in future generations that local residents would ever truly benefit from and become significant partners in the Madikwe project. iii Acknowledgements Many thanks to all the fieldwork participants whose thoughts and perceptions fonn the bedrock of this project, and particularly to my field assistants, Seth Modisane, Naledi Rapoo and Moses Molefe, for their interest, enthusiasm and commitment to the fieldwork. I am indebted to the North West Parks and Tourism Board which commissioned the socio-economic survey and provided the financial support that made my field stay possible. Deepest thanks, especially, to Peter Leitner and Jennifer Seif for their encouragement throughout my fieldwork; to Richard Davies; and to Paul Daphne for sharing with me his rich knowledge of the social and political history of the area. Thanks are also due to the staff of Mafisa Research and Planning, particularly to Eddie Koch, Peter John Massyn and Lucy Kaplan. For their intellectual input many thanks to Peter Anderson; Robert Thornton; Undine Kayser; Webster Whande; Sherry McClean; the Department of Social Anthropology, particularly Helen MacDonald and Colleen Petersen; the Cambridge Crew: Ozlem Biner, Manuel Arroyo-Kalin and Young-ho Nam; and, as ever, Nolwazi Mkhwanazi. I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Mugsy Spiegel, for his guidance, patience and hard work throughout the years. Without his encouragement and invaluable comments, this thesisUniversity would never have beenof written. Cape Town Heartfelt thanks to the friends who have given me so much support over the years, in particular, John Campbell; Enrico Daffonchio; Elisabeth Hersov; Saul Dubow; Dominic Touwen; Jason Peters; Sarah Polonsky; Rafiq Asma1; Andre Naude; Jaco Barnard; Sophie Mills; Sasha Evans; Rohan Young; Malachy and Henry; and last, but never least, Petru for her endurance, empathy, and quite amazing ability to listen and inspire. I do not know how to express the deep gratitude lowe my family for their incredible generosity with both financial and moral support: Anne Bologna; Kate and Dominic iv Dodd; Paddy Hough; Peter and Alaine Apap Bologna, and most especially my grandfather, Sir Geofroy Tory, whose encouragement, throughout my life, has always given me the freedom and confidence to follow my dreams, and to whom I dedicate this thesis. University of Cape Town v Table of Contents Declaration 11 Abstract iii Acknowledgements IV Table of Contents VI List ofAcronyms IX The Cast X Prologue 1 List of Maps Map 1: Location ofMadikwe Game Reserve 6 Map 2: Grid Map ofMadikwe Game Reserve .21 Map 3: Madikwe Game Reserve and Surrounding Villages 34 Map 4: Tum of the 20th Century Map of the Region 39 . Map 5: 1979 Cadastral Map of Bophuthatswana and the Madikwe Area 41 Map 6: The Six Scattered Fraginents that Comprised Bophuthatswana 46 List of Tables Table 1: Employment and Unemployment by Gender in 2000 in Lekgophung 63 Table 2: Type of Employment by Gender in 2000 in Lekgophung 64 Table 3: Employment and Unemployment by Gender in 2000 in Supingstad 64 Table 4: Type of Employment by Gender in 2000 in Supingstad 64 Table 5: Employment and Unemployment by Gender in 2000 in Molatedi 65 Table 6: Type of Employment by Gender in 2000 in Molatedi 65 List of Graphs Graph 1: Breakdown of Unemployment Proportions in Each Village 63 Graph 2: Non-Subsistence Sources of Household Income in Each Village 66 Graph 3: A GenderedUniversity Breakdown of Education of LevelsCape in Lekgophung Town 67 Graph 4: A Gendered Breakdown of Education Levels in Supingstad 67 Graph 5: A Gendered Breakdown of Education Levels in Molatedi 68 Chapter 1: Introduction 4 Thesis Map 8 Madikwe Game Reserve and People-based Conservation 12 Methods and Ethical Considerations 18 Chapter 2: Setting the Scene 31 Finding the Fieldwork Site 31 An Historical View 33 Apartheid and the Rise and Fall of Bophuthatswana 45 vi Bureaucratic Violence: The Homelands Policy of Grand Apartheid 47 After Apartheid: Traitors or Heroes? 53 Why a Game Reserve? 55 Enter .the Madikwe Initiative 60 The Villages in 2000 62 Chapter 3: Stakeholders and Stickholders: Power and Paradigms in the Development Arena 71 The Post Development Position 73 New Paradigms But an Unchanging Story of Development 77 The Flattening Tendencies of Paradigmatic Models: The Absent Community 81 Chapter 4: The Politics of Avoidance: Chiefs, Tribal Authorities and the Development Process 94 The Madikwe Initiative and the Politics of Democracy 98 Chief Victor Suping: An Autocratic Democrat? 101 Democracy: A Versatile Abstraction .104 Negotiating Legitimacy: The Changing Face of Chieftainships 111 Collaborators or Administrators? 114 A Leader is a Leader by the People: Traditional Leaders in a Democratic South Africa 119 Power and Control: Who Holds the Project Reins? 122 Chapter 5: Developing Democracy or Creating Conflict? Local Government, Civic Organisations and the Development Process 128 Inexorable Bureaucratic Tentacles 130 In Search ofOemocracy: Molatedi Divided 134 The Bopitikelo Community Centre: Focussing the Conflicts 145 Lekgophung's RDP Forum: Democracy, Strategy or Apathy? 151 Representation, Communication and Enduring Conflicts 154 Chapter 6: 'The UniversityFar Side of the Country': of Perceptions, Cape Paradoxes Town and Miscommunications regarding the Role of Madikwe 157 Madikwe: A Modernising Force and an Escape from Modernity? 158 The Hidden Power of Landscape Representation 160 An Excursion to Rural England 161 The Myth of Madikwe 163 Conservation: A Hallowed Ideology 165 From Fortress Conservation to People-Based Conservation 169 The North West Parks and Tourism Board's Approach 175 Chapter 7: 'Before there was nothing': Knowledge, Power and the Madikwe Initiative 187 Good Capitalist Entrepreneurs 196 vii A Culture of Consultants 200 The Thakadu Theatre Group: Reinforcing Dependence 201 The Lodge Internship Programme 205 Dependency, Sustainability and the Balance of Power 210 Absent Management and the Question ofAutonomy 214 Chapter 8: Concluding Comments· 224 Appendix 1: The Questionnaire 235 Appendix 2: Photographs 252 Appendix 3: Colonial Chronologies 256 Appendix 4: V1eischfontein Mission 262 Bibliography 265 University of Cape Town viii List of Acronyms ANC African National Congress CAMPFIRE Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources CBNRM Community-Based Natural Resource