Dark Tourism: South African War

Abstract

South African War dark tourism is defined as tourists visiting sites associated with the South African War 1899–1902. Known as the Anglo-Boer War for decades, the South African War was fought between Great Britain and the two independent Boer republics of the Orange Free State (OVS) and the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR), otherwise known as the Transvaal Republic, in South Africa. The casualties on the Boer side numbered 3997, while on the British side, 7792 died on the South African battlefields. A popular dark tourism attraction that is starting to gain momentum in South Africa is visits to sites related to the South African War, where tourists pay homage to their forefathers who participated in this war. Others visit the sites associated with the war out of curiosity and interest, thus participating in dark tourism. Dark tourism is defined as tourists visiting sites where noteworthy deaths, disasters or tragedies have taken place.