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Clifford Dlamini, Product Owner
 


Jikizela Tours

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In isiZulu, “jikizela” means something like “peripatetic” – constantly moving about.

A salesman who used to travel the length and breadth of KwaZulu-Natal, when the business he worked for closed down almost a decade ago, Clifford Dlamini wanted to keep moving. So he considered the tourism business. After qualifying and working for a tour operator for two years, in 2003 Clifford launched Jikizela Tours, a business that would keep him on the go, while giving him the chance to show off his beloved province to visitors from home and abroad.

While working for the tour operator, Clifford realised that overseas visitors were particularly interested in learning about the people of Durban and its surroundings. Their story, too, has been one of constant change and movement; not always at their own behest.

Based in Pinetown, just outside Durban, Jikizela Tours offers half- and full-day tours, plus longer, overnight packages. Clifford enjoys taking visitors to see the majestic Drakensberg mountains and into the bush but his speciality is cultural tours of Durban and, particularly, township tours.
Jikizela tours often start at the KwaMuhle Museum in the centre of Durban. In many ways the museum, which used to house the Native Administration Department, is symbolic of how the people of greater Durban moved from the rural way of life into the cities and how many aspects of their lives were controlled by apartheid-era officials. Black people wanting to live and work legally in the cities had to have passes that they had to carry with them at all times. It was at what is now the KwaMuhle Museum that this hated system was administered locally.

Visiting the museum gives visitors a background sense of the history of townships, such as Cato Manor, Clermont and Umlazi, which, Clifford says, are great favourites of his customers. Another favourite is the KwaXimba homestead in the spectacular Valley of 1 000 Hills, where tourists can see the still semi-rural way of life of people living without electricity and running water.

“In places like Cato Manor we show people the shacks, how people live in them. Then we also show them the new houses, the community halls, the big libraries, schools and crèches. This way people can see how people’s lives and the communities they live in are changing all the time.

“Many people are also interested in going to a shebeen where they can interact with the locals. They’re even interested in visiting schools and, in Clermont, we often go to an upmarket restaurant, the Comfort Zone, for lunch.”

According to Clifford, township tours are not just about driving past shacks and drinking and eating in shebeens. Many overseas visitors, he says, want to feel that they are making a slight difference to people’s lives. So, for instance, he takes many groups to a local orphanage, Gozololo, where clients usually make donations. A group of regular German clients – between 10 and 15 individuals - come out every year to donate stationery they have collected during the year to a local school. Clifford has even helped charitable groups to identify deserving schools and arranged the logistics of the donors’ visit.

Striving “always for excellence”, Jikizela is planning to develop tourism around the Zulu royal house. “Many people don’t realise that we still have a monarchy,” says Clifford. “We believe this is something that will be very interesting to international visitors and a big area of expansion for us.”

Clifford says he is confident that the TEP tourism cluster, which he recently joined, will “get us a lot more exposure” to Jikizela’s target markets. TEP has an outstanding track record as far as his business is concerned, says the soft-spoken 62-year-old. “TEP have helped us on a number of occasions; they helped us with the development of our brochures and our website. I’ve also attended courses hosted by TEP, which have been very helpful for me. Thanks to them I’ve learnt new skills in things like business management, finance, customer care and others. Thanks to TEP we will keep moving.”
 
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