The Good Work Foundation (GWF), an education non-profit operating in the area, has trained young people for work in the tourism economy, including at nearby game reserves and lodges. Its graduates include SanParks digital and multimedia practitioner Accolade Ubisi, Lion Sands Game Reserve trails guide Tshuxekani “Cruz” Gumede and Dulini lodge stock controller Sithembiso Trevir Watter.
For Ubisi, whose parents worked at Londolozi and lived in Lillydale outside the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, the connection with GWF began when she was a child.
“Kate and Gogo were my mentors, and are still very close to my heart,” she says.
After graduating from the University of Limpopo, Ubisi interned at SanParks before joining GWF’s media hub, where she developed an interest in digital storytelling.
Ubisi says her experience at GWF also influenced how she approaches her community.
“GWF taught me that we need to draw from the wisdom of the elders, the wisdom of our roots – who we are and where we come from. Most importantly, we need to actively listen, and listen to hear – listen to everything around us. And listening will, in turn, shape the decisions we make and the impact we make.”
She also learned “to believe in my power as a rural black woman who can shift anything in the world. And I have tried to do so since the very first day I met Kate and Gogo. It’s been a work in progress, of course, but they instilled in me a belief in our superpower as women.”
That community involvement includes serving on the local water committee and helping residents access safe, running water. She also assists young rural women with university applications, with support from GWF student support coordinator Mercyful Mathebula.
Her approach to local environmental problems has also been hands-on.
“Near my house is a little stream on a vacant plot, and I noticed that people were dumping there. This is the same water that our community relies on to irrigate their plants during winter. So I fenced it off without asking for permission, and explained later.
“Then, whenever I saw someone trying to dump things there, instead of being angry with them, I would explain to them why they shouldn’t. I spoke to them about cholera and suggested alternative means of getting rid of their waste.”
The link between local communities and tourism employment is particularly visible in the conservation sector.
GWF operates a Conservation Academy at its Hazyview campus, training young people for roles including tracking and field guiding at nearby game lodges.
Gumede, who works as a trails guide at Lion Sands Game Reserve, grew up in Cork village on the border of the Kruger National Park. He says the area he grew up in ultimately offered a career path he had not expected.
“For me, the bush is like home.”
Gumede also found that building a career in tourism did not require moving to a city.
“Everything I needed was actually behind my house.”
Watter, a GWF Bridging Year Academy graduate, was born and raised in nearby Dumphries village and now works as a stock controller at Dulini lodge.
“This is a dream for me; I love nature,” he says.
When Watter began studying at GWF, he did not know how to use a computer. The programme helped him develop the skills he now uses in his role.
“They built me into the man I am today.”
For GWF CEO Kate Groch, the progression from local community to tourism workplace illustrates the potential for wildlife-based tourism to provide career opportunities in communities surrounding the Greater Kruger.
“To see a young person journey from a village next to Greater Kruger, go through a GWF programme and then go back and work in this area is a wonderful circle,” she says.
The examples point to a broader workforce question for the tourism economy: how to ensure that communities surrounding major tourism destinations are able to access the skills and jobs created by the sector, rather than having to leave those areas to find work.
