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Community Tours

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In 1999 Singita Sabi Sand, responding to its guests’ desire to better understand the local Shangaan people and culture, initiated the first community tours for visitors. These excursions were co-ordinated by one of the Singita staff – a waiter in the Singita Ebony dining room. Zamani Mathebule was enthusiastic about the programme and as he lives in the local community he is passionate about its culture and history.

These tours proved to be so popular that Singita encouraged Zamani to establish his own small business which specialised in community tours. Zamani Tours now takes guests from Singita, and the other lodges in the Sabi Sand Reserve, on informative and entertaining visits to the local villages of Justicia and Lilydale. This business has grown in terms of both its activities and its stature. In 2005 it was awarded a Premier’s award for promising young entrepreneurs in the local province.

In Justicia village, guests pay a visit to one of the neighbouring pre-schools to meet the 3–6 year-olds and see the school in action. Thereafter they experience the ‘iSquathamiya’ songs of a local singing group as well as the gum-boot dancing of a youth group. A visit to a home follows, to taste some local foods, then some exposure to Shangaan tribal dance and wonderfully synchronised music from a youth choir.