The Role Of Traditional Leaders In The Promotion Of Cultural Tourism In The South Coast Of Kwazulu- Natal: A Case Study Of Umzumbe Municipality

Tourism was identified by the government post 1994 democratic election as one of the mechanisms that could be used to fight poverty. Traditional leaders were also incorporated into the government structures so that they could also play a meaningful role in the development of the country of their birth. This paper seeks to look at the role played by the traditional leaders in the promotion of cultural tourism in the areas under their chieftaincy post the 1994 democratic elections. Through purposive and theoretical data gathering sampling methods, unstructured interviews were conducted to 18 traditional leaders, 1 Umzumbe municipality local economic development officer and 1local tour guiding service provider. The study used methodological triangulation in the analysis of the results and found that there were mixed feelings amongst the traditional leaders regarding their role with some feeling that they are being side-lined by the local government when it comes to development issues as they are not invited to meetings where such issues are discussed. Others of course felt that they are already instrumental in the promotion of cultural tourism in their areas of jurisdiction citing cultural projects that are in the pipeline as evidence. The study concludes that due to lack of synergy between the municipality officials and the traditional leaders there is still a lot of untapped wealth in rural south coast, which through tourism awareness campaigns, partnership between local government, private sector and local traditional leadership can be used to turn things around. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n6p26