Abstract
Hope is widely acknowledged as a desirable state of individual being, but less attention has been paid to its potential as a collective sentiment that can be steered in various directions by governing agencies. (Shearing and Kempa 2004: 62) South Africa’s negotiated transition from autocratic rule to democratic dispensation has been widely presented as a “miracle,” a remarkable counterpoint to a stylized history of Africa in which it is inescapably seen as the “dark” continent (for further detail, see Waldmeir 1998; Friedman and Atkinson 1994; Sparks 2009). As problematic and factually incorrect as this is, such imagery is still frequently invoked in the popular press and media. Such understandings, moreover, frame tourist expectations by both misconstruing and romanticizing many of the destinations on the continent.
Hope is widely acknowledged as a desirable state of individual being, but less attention has been paid to its potential as a collective sentiment that can be steered in various directions by governing agencies.
Shearing and Kempa 2004: 62
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Notes
- 1.
For example, see the country’s official web portal, www.southafrica.info (accessed on 11 October 2015), and that of Brand South Africa, the self-noted “authority on national identity,” www.brandsouthafrica.com/who-we-are (accessed on 11 October 2015).
- 2.
These are sold both in jewellery shops and online, www.legacycollection.org (accessed on 11 October 2015).
- 3.
Currency conversions use rates from 2/12/2015. For a detailed review, see the Department’s strategy document, available at www.tourism.gov.za/AboutNDT/Branches1/Knowledge/Documents/National%20Tourism%20Sector%20Strategy.pdf (accessed on 11 October 2015).
- 4.
All of these are detailed in the “Tourism satellite account for South Africa,” available at www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-04-05-07/Report-04-05-072013.pdf (accessed on 11 October 2015).
- 5.
Correct at the time of writing, the report of which can be found at www.southafrica.net/uploads/files/2014_Annual_Report_v4_24082015.pdf (accessed on 11 October 2015).
- 6.
Correct at the time of writing, the report of which can be found at www.southafrica.net/uploads/files/2014_Annual_Report_v4_24082015.pdf (accessed on 11 October 2015).
- 7.
Quoted at the time of writing. Up to date tariffs can be found at www.robben-island.org.za/tours#tourtypes (accessed on 11 October 2015).
- 8.
These are advertised by the Gauteng Provincial Government, an example of which can be found at www.gauteng.net/attractions/entry/correctional_services_museum (accessed on 11 October 2015).
- 9.
To do so we draw upon research undertaken by Clifford Shearing and Michael Kempa in the late 1990s.
- 10.
Numerous examples and reports exist. See, for example, http://beta.iol.co.za/capetimes/robben-island-ferry-chaos-1626829.
- 11.
As stated by the official government sources; for housing development figures see http://www.gov.za/about-sa/housing, and for social grant figures see http://www.sassa.gov.za/index.php/knowledge-centre/statistical-reports?download=440:statistical-report-no-9-of-2015&start=30.
- 12.
For an overview of these concerns, see http://mg.co.za/report/zumaville-a-special-report.
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Howell, S., Shearing, C. (2017). Prisons, Tourism, and Symbolism: Reflecting (on) the Past, Present, and Future of South Africa. In: Wilson, J., Hodgkinson, S., Piché, J., Walby, K. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Tourism. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56135-0_14
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