Defining the Far West Rand historical legacy with emphasis on township tourism

Abstract

This study defines the legacy of the Far West Rand (FWR) and explores the heritage of the Khutsong township for future tourism as an alternative tool for sustainable development. The FWR owes its origin to the discovery of gold at Blyvooruitzicht in 1937 and the subsequent economic success of more gold mining developments. The growth of towns in the Gatsrand (as part of the FWR), which included Oberholzer in 1939, Welverdiend in 1942, Blybank in 1947, and Carletonville in 1948 was directly related to the economic output of the goldmines. With gold mining activities well on course an influx of migrant workers from other African countries and South African regions populated the FWR, resulting in the establishment of mine villages (such as Blyvooruitzicht village, West-Driefontein village, East-Driefontein village) to accommodate the mineworkers. Apartheid policies shaped the development of townships in the region, which were Khutsong, Wedela, and Kokosi. Existing insights from academic literature provided the background to approaches that guide tourism developments in mining regions as well as informed on the broader history of the region. The possibility of more mine closures in the next two decades has made it necessary to revisit the mining legacy as a worthy narrative to be preserved in many forms for future tourism. Khutsong's legacy forms a part of this narrative that needs to be defined. Cultural histories and traditional features were identified as future legacies for potential tourism products. It was suggested that this might be possible, amongst others, through the development of a cultural village, and other supplementing initiatives such as township tours themed on dark stories of gangsterism in Khutsong. Environmental legacies also proved to have the potential to create tourism initiatives through the Abe Bailey Nature Reserve, the Wonderfontein Cave, and sinkhole tourism. Semi-structured interviews with 12 residents of Khutsong and the Merafong (previously Carletonville) municipal region supplemented the existing literature to include perspectives from bottom-up to top-down and vice versa. This approach deepened the knowledge base of the study. The interviews provided undocumented information on Khutsong, assisting in crafting oral legacies on the township's early developments from the 1950s until the present-time. This additional information filled the gap in narratives from Khutsong during apartheid, including the transitionary phase to democracy and events from the demarcation period of 2005-2008. The Khutsong community provided ideas on packaged tourism products ranging from political struggles, and environmental and cultural legacies which would showcase the heritage of the township, which are explored by the dissertation. From a regional historical perspective, much more tourism potential was pointed out from the broader FWR history and Khutsong's Township legacy related to the region.