Emoya Private Game Reserve, Conference Centre and Spa in Bloemfontein, South Africa has created a fake slum for wealthy tourists to experience slum life “within the safe environment of a private game reserve.” The introduction to the fake slum reads: Millions of people are living in informal settlements across South Africa. These settlements consist of thousands of houses also referred to as Shacks, Shantys or Makhukhus. A Shanty usually consists of old corrugated iron sheets or any other waterproof material which is constructed in such a way to form a small “house” or shelter where they make a normal living. A paraffin lamp, candles, a battery operated radio, an outside toilet (also referred to as a long drop) and a drum where they make fire for cooking is normally part of this lifestyle. Now you can experience staying in a Shanty within the safe environment of a private game reserve. This is the only Shanty Town in the world equipped with under-floor heating and wireless internet access! Below is a video of the mock shanty town posted on YouTube by Emoya: Most people online have described the idea as tasteless and disgraceful. Siji Jabbar, writing on This Is Africa, said: If you thought the idea of rich tourists on holiday taking time out for a walking (or riding) tour through a slum in order to stare at slum inhabitants like they’re animals at a safari was tasteless, insensitive and offensive, the people at Emoya Luxury Hotel & Spa in Bloemfontein, South Africa, have found a way to offer something even more tasteless. In case you haven’t heard, the Emoya people have built a fake shanty town consisting of “shacks” so that guests can experience what it’s like to stay in a shanty town. For R850 (€60; $82) – about half the average monthly salary in South Africa – you and three friends, family members or colleagues can spend a night in a shack made of corrugated iron sheets. They “shanty town” has room for 52 guests. I kid you not. Siji explained why the idea is offensive: There are one billion people worldwide living in slums, and I'll hazard a guess that not one of this billion would continue to do so if they had a choice. Choice is the reason why the idea of “experiencing” what it is like is complete nonsense. If you have to live in a shack built from cardboard and corrugated metal sheets, you are, relatively speaking, poor, and poverty is about not having choices. by accident of birth, you find yourself growing up and living in a shack in a shanty town. It’s not a moral failing, though some people appear to see it as such, but to the person living in a shack it can feel like failure, mainly because that’s the message society transmits. […] It’s about fighting every day to hang on to your dignity, while others, knowingly or inadvertently, try to strip you of it. It’s about constant worry: will you have enough to eat tomorrow? Next week? Can you afford to get ill, and what happens if you do? Will your shack be demolished tomorrow morning because it was built “illegally’, rendering you homeless? You can’t experience any of that unless you actually are poor, and you can’t walk away from poverty, or from your shack, overnight or in a week or when you've had enough of the “experience”. So all any guest in one of these “shack” will experience is a night or more of camping. Emoya's fake slum for tourists in South Africa. Photo source: http://www.emoya.co.za/ Commenting on Siji's post, Kathy Smedley considered the idea to be simply stupid: This is just plain stupid!!! What in the world is wrong with the genius that came up with such a lame brained idea. Do they not know this is making fun of people who by no choice of their own live like this? Very tasteless idea, right along with the idiots who would actually PAY to stay in something such as this place. If someone wants to pay to stay in a shanty, let them stay in a real one, and then maybe they just might take their money and put it to good use, such as donating to a charity or homeless shelter that could use the dollars to help those less fortunate Another reader, Kenyan slum dweller, pointed out what was missing in the idea: They don't have the icing on the cake, CRIME Fake slum made of corrugated iron sheets. Photo source: http://www.emoya.co.za “Shame, shame on Emoya,” said Heather Laninga: I have never seen a shanty with mattresses and bunk beds, or so nicely built for that matter. This is absolutely tasteless and insensitive. Shame, shame on Emoya. I hope that 100% of the profits are going to NGO's to help the poor! However, Dirk Pieters thought the idea was awesome: Its an awesome idea. Don't be so quick to judge.