Xolisa Bangani founded the Ikhaya Garden to draw tourists to his community and the tourist garden has done wonders for the community since then.
Khayelitsha, South Africa (3 February 2020) – Xolisa Bangani first popped up on our radar when he wrote an open letter to the public after local and international students were mugged in Khayelitsha’s notorious Site C.
Xolisa founded the Ikhaya Garden in 2013 at the Isikhokelo Primary School to help grow his community.
“We wanted to grow our community, grow our people, grow our youth which seems to be neglected, rejected and have no room to create opportunity for themselves. Also one of our main goals was to create a safe community for our local people and visitors who are coming all over the world.” (An extract from his open letter)
The Ikhaya Garden has actually proven to be a great benefit for the community and has boosted tourism to the area. The garden is featured as a must-visit on Airbnb’s outdoor experiences list.
Xolisa set it up to show that gardening can be cool and to teach people about organic gardening. Alongside learning about gardening, tourists are taught the history of Khayelitsha.
Since it has been established, the tourist garden has brought many people to the community. Other businesses were set up, and the community grew just like Xolisa had wished.
Every international and local tourist that has visited the garden has praised the experience. Xolisa is really driving change and doing it so well! Because of this, the community grows every day.
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