A South African resort provides a special treatment to their insanely rich guests. They give them an opportunity to live the life of millions of underprivileged African people. The rich live like the poor during their stay in the resort. Critics, however, have termed the weird luxury at the Makhukhu Village aka Shanty Towns as 'poverty porn'.

The collection of metal huts at Emoya Estate gives the impression of the underprivileged life millions live in Africa. It is a part of the five-star luxury game reserve to give the tourists a taste of poverty rather in a safer environment than the actual ones. The tourists have the privilege of electricity, running water and Wi-Fi at these poor huts. The pretence of living a poor life while enjoying these modern facilities has enraged many critics all over the world.

The practice has been strongly criticised as tasteless. It has also been termed as offensive to the actual poor people who do not have any other choice but to live an extremely impoverished life. Going to a luxurious holiday and pretending to mimic the poor have been considered as insensitive. It takes $80 to spend one night in one those shacks, while the average monthly income of a domestic worker in South Africa is about $98.

Stephen Colbert, the political satirist from America, called the tourist version of enjoying poverty as 'poverty porn'. The so-called poor huts have wireless Internet and under-floor heating. The Emoya Estate runs a spa, a conference centre and a private game reserve which is situated in the western part of Bloemfontein. The region is known as the 'Big Sky Country'.

The poor living at Shanty Towns apes the informal settlements by millions across South Africa, which are commonly known as Makhukhus, Shacks or Shantys. The real life of misery led by the common people here deals with candles, paraffin lamps and an outside toilet (called a Long-Drop).

A Shanty is generally made of old corrugated iron sheets or any such material which guards them against water. They generally have a battery-operated radio as the greatest source of their entertainment. They also have a drum which is used to make fire for cooking.

The guests at the resort, on the contrary, enjoy Donkey geysers, Braai facilities and bathrooms with shower. Their toilet has the Long-Drop effect, the official Web site claims.

Zachary Levenson, the country writer from Africa, criticised the concept to be offensive.

Video courtesy: YouTube/EmoyaEstate