South Africa's Zulu culture turns into tourist drawcard

Spear-wielding warriors pour over the hilltops to attack a startled red-coat army, in a battlefield re-enactment that hopes to lure World Cup fans away from the stadiums between matches.

South Africa's 19th-century battlefields gave birth to the Zulu nation, as military genius King Shaka brought together a large swath of the country under his rule, only to clash with the British colonisers.

Zulus are now South Africa's largest ethnic group, at 24 percent of the population, and their history and culture are being turned into a tourist drawcard.

Anglo-Zulu battlefields and Shaka's grave and birthplace now anchor a tourism trade in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province that aims to give foreigners a slice of history and rural South African life.

The province is the most popular vacation destination for South Africans, but struggles to lure foreign visitors away from Cape Town and the winelands on the western coast. Zulu culture has become a key attraction, tourist officials said.

``Cultural tourism has seen a steady rise over the last eight years. We are hoping that the World Cup will expose us to new markets and clients," said William Adams, a tour guide for Springbok Atlas Tours.

On the Isandlwana Anglo-Zulu warfields, spear-wielding warriors battle red coats in battle re-enactments that show how the British were overpowered in 1879 in one of their worst colonial defeats.

DURBAN, South Africa, Wednesday (AFP)