Hangberg's Khoi tour guide provides a different perspective

Khoi tour guide Brent Thomas and his wife Donita, who live in Hangberg. He insists that he can assure tourists' safety despite the negativity surrounding Hangberg. Photo: Naomi Rio

Khoi tour guide Brent Thomas and his wife Donita, who live in Hangberg. He insists that he can assure tourists' safety despite the negativity surrounding Hangberg. Photo: Naomi Rio

Published Sep 19, 2018

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While many of the Hangberg residents are mired in poverty amid depressing living conditions, highlighted by recent protests, recently qualified Khoi tour guide Brent Thomas believes the rich diversity of his community warrants more exposure.

Thomas, from Karbonkelberg Tourism, has fought for years to rise above the negative image which taints the Hangberg community. He believes there is an opportunity to introduce a Hangberg beyond protests to the world.

“It took me three years to start this company. I have worked hard, been networking, with my own money… From now on, because I am legal, I can start working.”

He didn’t want to work as a tour guide when he had yet to qualify, “because we already have such a bad name here as residents from Hangberg”.

Thomas isn’t a conventional tour guide. He proudly acknowledges his Khoi heritage and has spent most of his life studying South African history and those of many different countries. His aim is “to teach people about our history, our traditions, the plants…”

His tour company do hikes as well as culinary and bike tours around the bay and the Sentinel, from a historical perspective. Thomas wants to reclaim the history of the country's indigenous people. “The history was given to us from a colonial point of view. We today as Khoi have no existence."

While he accepts one must embrace modern society, he believes you “mustn’t forget your traditions. After 500 hundred years, our struggle continues”.

Through his studies and continual exploration, Thomas has developed a deep political consciousness. He aspires to reflect a different perspective through his work as a tour guide.

“We are living in a world where tourism is the biggest industry in South Africa. There is no fish any more in Hout Bay – there are so many laws. We have to battle.”

Thomas wants the provincial government and the city to do more to uplift the Hangberg community by giving it more exposure. Comparing it to Mandela Park in Hout Bay, he believes Hangberg needs to be provided more tourism opportunities.

“The problem is that Hangberg is not promoted. In Mandela Park, they work with the Red Bus, but they refuse to come to Hangberg. They said this is because there is no bus stop, but that’s a lie as there is a MyCiTi bus.

“The city can provide a bus stop in our community if they want to, but because we have a bad name in the tourism industry, they don’t want to. There are about 17 tour guides in our community, but there is just maybe four of us who have work.”

Being a permanent Hangberg resident, where he lives with his wife and their three children, Thomas assures visitors and tourists that he can guarantee their safety.

“We do it as a family, people prefer it that way, it’s safer for them. In my community, everybody knows me, so people have the guarantee of safety.”

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