View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS) Cultural Villages, Inherited Tradition and „African Culture‟: A Case Study of Mgwali Cultural Village in the Eastern Cape. Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in History. Solomzi Victor Bovana Student NO: 200508684 Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities University of Fort Hare March 2010 Table of contents Declaration……………………………………………………………………………….i Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………..iii Acronyms………………………………………………………………………………..iv Introduction……………………………………………………………………………...1 Chapter One Literature Review……………………………………………………………………….5 Chapter Two History and Dynamics of Cultural Villages………………………………………….26 Chapter Three History and Location of Mgwali as a Village………………………………………..41 Chapter Four The Cultural Village Performs………………………………………………………..67 Chapter Five Evolution of Mgwali Cultural Village…………………………………………………100 Chapter Six Cultural Dynamics and Contradictions at Mgwali Cultural Village………………124 Chapter Seven Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….148 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………..152 DECLARATION I declare that “Cultural Villages, Inherited Tradition and „African Culture‟: A Case Study of Mgwali Cultural Village in the Eastern Cape” is my own work, that it has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at any other University, and that all sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by complete references. Solomzi Victor Bovana – January 2010 Signature……........................................... Supervisor: Professor Gary Minkley, University of Fort Hare, South Africa i Abstract A growing number of studies concerning cultural villages have in most instances tended to focus on the cultural village as almost legitimately self-explanatory and have not been particularly concerned with either how a particular history is produced in and through these villages, or with the ways that particular discourses and practices associated with heritage, tourism, community and development intersect in the production of these meanings. As such Mgwali Cultural Village seemed to promise something different in the form of cultural villages. The thesis argues that Mgwali Cultural Village is unique in the history of cultural villages in that it moves away from presenting a cultural village in Africa as tribal and primitive. It does this by opening up spaces for other aspects such as Christianity and resistance politics, story of Tiyo Soga rather than focusing and confining itself only to aspects cultural portraying Africans and traditional. It is imperative that cultural villages ought to be understood within a broader framework and context where its definition and presentation is not trapped into an anthropological paradigm thinking of exploring and discovering something new by tourists which they are not familiar with. However, the thesis also argues that much as Mgwali Cultural Village promised something new from the known through depiction of other aspects, those histories seem to be absent or marginal at the Cultural Village. The only aspects that are fore grounded are traditions and culture thus freezing Mgwali as a village and its people in time as if they have not evolved and its cultures are static and not dynamic. The thesis therefore explores all those contradictions, silences, or absence thereof of other stories and histories. ii Acknowledgements My sincere thanks to my supervisor, Prof Gary Minkley for the outstanding guidance and motivation while writing the thesis. His patience, sense of humour and unconditional support in grooming me as a researcher are of great value to me. He was not just only a supervisor, but also a father and leader. To my family who supported me emotionally and otherwise. Finally, I would like to thank all the people of Mgwali with whom I was immersed during my fieldwork. Their co-operation led to the successful completion of this research. iii Acronyms CV Cultural Village CVS Cultural Villages KCV Khayalabantu Cultural Village TSDT Tiyo Soga Development Trust WTO World Tourism Organization SAHRA South African Heritage Resources Agency TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission GRC Grahamstown Rural Committee MRA Mgwali Residents Association PTOS Permission to Occupy Certificates SATOUR South African Tourism ECDC Eastern Cape Development Corporation ECTB Eastern Cape Tourism Board iv Introduction Chapter one in essence reviews the literature used in the thesis in detail and makes some pointers as to what it is to be argued in the thesis. Through a case study of Mgwali Cultural Village in particular, it shows how cultural villages come to represent and perform a particular kind of past and history as heritage. A growing number of studies relating to cultural villages, most of these have tended to focus on the cultural village as almost legitimately self-explanatory and have not been particularly concerned with either how a particular history is produced in and through these villages, or with the ways that particular discourses and practices (and meanings) associated with heritage, tourism, community and development intersect in the production of these meanings. It argues that Mgwali Cultural Village seemed to promise something different in the form of cultural villages. As a village Mgwali was the site of one of the early attempts to create a „buffer strip‟ of „civilised natives‟ under colonial rule through the establishment of quit-rent ownership relationships (and later leading to restitution claims); and later it was the location of resistance to being forcibly removed from Eastern Cape „black spots‟, as well as wider struggles against forced removals and the homeland government. It therefore argues that a cultural village in Mgwali held the promise of „a different approach‟ in terms of cultural villages and their potential representations of pastness. Indeed early documentation records the „uniqueness of Mgwali‟s history‟ and of a „unique and different experience‟ available there.1 More generally, though, the emergence of the cultural village as a particular phenomenon in South African and the Eastern Cape needs to be located in wider discussions about the changing nature of heritage, tourism and development, particularly in the post-1994 period. 1 Cape Printed Annexures/Papers [CCP] A68-1880 Draft of Regulations and Conditions under which it is proposed to grant title to Africans under the Location Act No 40 of 1879; Title Deeds that were issued as early as 1879 and 1883 to the people of Mgwali by Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere attached to Mgwali Quitrenters’ Restitution Claim, 19 February 2001. The second chapter explores the history and dynamics of cultural villages. It further argues that prior to the dawn of democracy in South Africa in 1994, South Africa‟s cultural tourism „product‟ was dominated by sites associated with European cultural heritage, including the legacies of the Anglo-Boer and Anglo- Zulu Wars. During the apartheid years in South Africa, African cultures were largely invisible in the public domain with the exception of museum displays and governmentally supervised presentations. Museums exhibited artifacts in an unchanging „tribal‟ context. In these museums emphasis was put on the tremendous cultural difference that separated „white‟ civilization from „native cultures‟. Witz, Rassool and Minkley have argued that in this period, three sites were central in attempting to promote South Africa as an “African” cultural destination: cultural villages, township tours and theme parks.2 Schutte has similarly argued that since the abolition of apartheid, the “cultural village” as a display of “authentic” tribal life has become increasingly popular and that the “form the indigenous people take as tourist attractions is the cultural village which is within easy reach of the main tourist routes and holiday resorts”.3 Lastly the chapter explores challenges faced by cultural village owners and cultural performers. Other cultural villages have easy access to funding from financial institutions and as such are in a position to market them. Others are not so fortunate and are forced to sell their stakes to those who have financial muscle. Chapter three gives a brief overview of Mgwali as a village, where it comes from and how it has evolved over the years, the quitrent system together with the attendant history of forced removals by the then apartheid regime and Ciskei homeland government in the last quarter of the twentieth century. As cultural villages are deemed to be the centres for the preservation, performance and display of certain African cultures and artifacts, the chapter shows how unique Mgwali is as a rural community in the history of forced removals in South Africa. 2 Witz, L., Rassool, C. and Minkley, G. (2001) „Repackaging the Past for South African Tourism‟. In Daedalus, Vol 130, No 1, Winter 2001, pp 177-296. 3 Schutte, G. (2003) „Tourists and Tribes in the “New” South Africa‟. Journal of Ethnohistory 50: 3. As such, it represents the possibility of a very different history and available past for the cultural village. Chapter four attempts to argue that the history about Mgwali discussed in the previous chapter about forced removals, resistance and quitrent system disappear with more emphasis being put on „culture‟ and „tradition. It argues that these representations are not just „invented‟ or