Abstract
This case study seeks to explore the role of souvenir making in empowering marginalised women in Alexandra, Johannesburg. Souvenir making contributes to social and economic empowerment of marginalised women, which enhances their standards of living. The women in Alexandra live under a number of socio-economic challenges, such as high levels of crime, overcrowding, informal settlements, high rate of unemployment, lack of proper sanitation and most notably poverty. Poverty among women is perpetuated by patriarchy, low levels of education, cultural and religious systems and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Both the government and non-governmental organisations have implemented a number of initiatives and policies to empower women through tourism in Alexandra, such as the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) and the Alexandra Tourism Development Project (ATDP), with the aim to offer women and young the opportunity to participate in tourism. Even though this has been the case, the challenges women face still persist. This was a qualitative study based on a case study approach, which followed a sequential exploratory design consisting of four phases: situation analysis, focus groups, face-to-face interviews and triangulation of the data. The non-probability sampling methods, namely: snowball, convenience and purposive sampling were used for data collection. The results of the study revealed that souvenir making in Alexandra empowers women both socially and economically, looking at the socio-economic challenges women face, the biggest being lack of employment, women found souvenir making providing economic independence, getting access to food, clothing, medication and paying school fees for their children and grandchildren was a priority. Even though this is the case, there is still room for improvement in regard to tourism and souvenir making in Alexandra and how it can assist women to maximise the benefits thereof. Some of the women found souvenir making in Alexandra not beneficial, which is the reason why they resorted to sell their souvenirs in other areas, such as Soweto and Rosebank craft markets. Lack of access to funding due to bureaucracy and crime and corruption were mentioned as one of the main challenges women are facing, which affects their opportunities to make an income from souvenir making. Moreover, lack of training and skills development is a major barrier for women, as they lack knowledge in regards to product design, tourist preferences and taste. The fact that women made their v souvenirs by hand, which were inspired by their cultures and life stories, offered women a competitive advantage over mass produced souvenirs. Women making souvenirs need to work together with different stakeholders to benefit from support services designed to assist marginalised women in the townships. The results of study contribute to deeper understanding of the importance of economic activites of marginalised women in townships to sustain their livelihoods, the importance of souvenir making as a tool to empower marginalised women socially and ecnomically, since they capitilise of the craft making skills they already possess and the importance of tourism as an industry that can create opportunities for the empowerment of wome
M.A. (Tourism and Hospitality Management)