10 senior management interviews (andBeyond management, andBeyond Ngala management and Africa Foundation management) were conducted according to a set schedule. This schedule is provided in Table 3.
Table 3: Senior management interview schedule
Guest interviews were conducted on the 10th and 11th of April 2016. The sample was purposefully kept small. Firstly, the interviewees were on holiday and did not need to be bothered with anything more laborious. Secondly, the researcher did not want guests to feel obliged to answer questions in favour of andBeyond because he was an employee and was interacting with them while in uniform. Lastly, if they were not aware of the work that andBeyond were currently doing in the local communities, he did not want to feel the temptation to shift his role from researcher to that of an informer/marketer for andBeyond. A few short interviews were nonetheless revealing. Those guests that specifically travel to andBeyond because of community development opportunities would most likely want to participate in this research; however, andBeyond’s development opportunities is probably not every guest’s primary reason for selecting to travel to andBeyond.
A challenge during conducting the staff interviews was trying to schedule time out of their busy days while they continued to fulfil their demanding daily duties because these exclusive lodges were still in operation. Both managers and the researcher carefully explained to the staff that their confidentiality would be ensured and that their participation was completely voluntary. Only one employee preferred not to partake. Mention must be made that the results could have been slightly different if a completely independent and objective individual had
Position Company Location Date Type
Field and Sustainability Director andBeyond Bataleur House, JHB 17/03/2016 Face-to-face South African Regional Director andBeyond Bataleur House, JHB 17/03/2016 Face-to-face Financial Director andBeyond Bataleur House, JHB 17/03/2016 Face-to-face CEO Africa Foundation Bataleur House, JHB 17/03/2016 Face-to-face Tented Camp Manager andBeyond Ngala Tented Camp 21/03/2016 Face-to-face South African Regional Manager andBeyond Ngala Safari Lodge 22/03/2016 Face-to-face Mpumalanga Programme Officer Africa Foundation South African Wildlife College 22/03/2016 Face-to-face Mpumalanga Programme Officer Africa Foundation South African Wildlife College 22/03/2016 Face-to-face Group Conservation Manager andBeyond Bryanston, JHB 30/03/2016 Telephonic International CEO andBeyond Bataleur House, JHB 19/04/2016 Skype
52
performed the interviews. The researcher does not necessarily believe this would be the case as the employees were ensured of confidentially and it was explained that their honestly could help to improve the relationship between andBeyond Ngala and their community. The researcher decided against voice-recordings of responses to ensure that the participants were not placed under any unnecessary stress.
Community interviews were conducted between the 11th and 15th of April 2016. The Africa
Foundation Mpumalanga Programme Officer, Vusi Nkuna, was able to assist with direction and specific contacts within the local communities; for this, the research is eternally grateful. In order to incur minimal disturbance on households within the communities and in accordance with the wishes of tribal authorities, interview questionnaires were held on a face-to-face basis at convenient but well frequented places. These random meeting places were targeted within each community in an attempt to produce an even geographical spread of responses. This was important, as residents from specific parts of a community may feel differently/neglected compared to those from other parts of their same community. Crèches, schools, clinics, home- based care centres, computer facilities, churches, petrol stations, and spaza shops were among the places where the interviews were conducted. The respondents were made up of teachers, community development forum leaders, builders, general workers, administrators, security guards, baby sitters, students, home-based care givers, interns, chefs, centre managers, nurses, spaza shop owners, and unemployed residents. Potential respondents were randomly approached to ask if they were interested in participating in the research.
All research subjects appeared interested in the research and agreed to participate in the interview. The researcher and translator were not dressed in any company uniform, so as not to sway the results. The researcher briefed potential participants about the purpose of the study and mentioned that he was a student at the University of Stellenbosch. All participants signed a consent letter before participate in research. Residents from both communities were equally friendly and extremely welcoming, particularly the children who all shouted “mlungu” (meaning ‘white’ in Shangaan) when the researcher entered an establishment.
On the whole, although a translator was always present, most respondents were happy to conduct the interview in English. The researcher was impressed by the literacy skills of most respondents. This may or may not be as a direct result of the work that andBeyond Ngala have
53
performed over the last 25 years. Perhaps this may also be attributed to the fact that most participants happened to be employed.
At first, some of the respondents appeared confused with answering questions using the 5-point Likert rating scale. With the help of a thorough explanation, the facial expressions, and the translation of words into Shangaan on a blank page, they were all able to complete this task without an issue. The respondents tended to favour the end-points or limits of the scale. Zikmund (2002:308) suggests that an attitude is usually viewed as an enduring disposition to respond consistently in a given manner to various aspects of the world, including people, events, and objects. It was for this reason that the researcher included some questions that measure the same or very similar constructs twice, to double-check responses and improve the accuracy of results.
The data was collected in April 2016, around the same time that South African nationals registered to vote in the nationwide municipal elections. This could have had an influence on the final results, especially in the light of the turbulent political environment, the fall of the South African rand, and the corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma.