Community leaders around Inanda Dam, Kwazulu Natal, and issues of community participation in tourism development initiatives.

There are contrasting views that tourism development in rural areas in both developed and developing countries has generally occurred without the participation of those often most directly affected by it. Many writers believe that the community participatory approach to tourism development would facilitate the implementation of principles of sustainable tourism development by creating better opportunities for local people to gain meaningful and more balanced benefits from tourism development taking place in their localities. A sense of community ownership is crucial for the sustainability of tourism activities where local residents understand the collective value and interest of tourism development as an economic phenomenon. The conflict that arises if local communities are not involved in tourism development and the resources that are crucial to their livelihoods are tampered with has been a hot topic of debate for decades. This study was conducted in the villages that surround Inanda Dam as a tourism precinct namely: Emaphephetheni, Eskebheni (Emaqadini), and KwaNgcolosi in the KwaZulu Natal Province of South Africa . The study ascertained that the understanding of the notion of community participation between the chiefs and manager of the Inanda dam was different. The manager (representing Msinsi- the private operator) understood participation as merely preparing slides on what was envisaged and presenting them to the local leaders. The understanding of community participation between the chiefs and local leaders also seemed to diverge. The chiefs seemed to know exactly what should be happening and the local leaders the majority of whom were illiterate, thought that whatever the management of the dam was doing was acceptable. The findings of this study in an area that is booming in tourism and recreation 23 years into South Africa’s democracy, indicated that there was still minimal community participation in tourism development. While the dam as a resource was able to draw the affluent residents of Durban and KwaZulu Natal to Inanda, the economic activities around the dam belonged to Msinsi with minimal economic benefits permeating down to the poor local rural community members