Abstract

The ‘Zulu’ label has been used as a means to position Durban’s beachfront tourism offerings to visitors, since the late 1800s. Scholarship surrounding ‘Zuluness’ - its perpetuated use in politics and in tourism (as a singular cultural or socio-political entity) has identified that complex processes of social construction, historic invention and identity reification have propelled it into public prominence. However, despite a dramatic decline in tourism in the KwaZulu-Natal region, the Zulu label remains as the central impetus of branding and marketing to tourists. As a result, beadworkers and Rickshaw Pullers, who ply their trade along Durban’s Golden Mile Beachfront struggle to make sufficient capital from their claims of ‘Zulu’ authenticity, attached to the trinkets, services, carts and beaded outfits on offer. This article thus examines if this current ‘Zulu’ approach might be enhanced to better alleviate poverty through tourism along the Mile, and potentially, across KwaZulu-Natal. It takes a reflexive ethnographic approach to understanding ideas of regional, visual identity in relation to beadwork design systems not currently on offer, with the aim of diversifying the ethnic tourism offering in the region.