Friday, October 06, 2006


Townships: A legacy of Apartheid
One of the key tenets of the apartheid system was segregation of races - blacks, coloureds and whites - in all activities. This was especially true in housing. And nowhere is the legacy of of the system more obvious to the casual observer (read: tourist) than in the enormous disparity between the white cities and the black/coloured townships that surround them.

While Soweto may be the most famous township (Outside Jo-burg), it seems that every community, large and small, has a set of corresponding townships. When apartheid was in full force, the idea was that whites would inhabit the city centers and blacks would be "repatriated" to the rural areas - bantustans or townships - outside the cities.

To enforce the segregation, all blacks were required to carry passes - dompaases or "stupid books" are they were called - at all times. These passes were the point of rightful tension, as any white could demand to see any black's pass at any time. To enter a city - any city of any size, from Cape Town to Stellenbosch in the wine region, a black would need to have a permit indicated on the pass. Thus the segregation was enforced, both by officials and city residents. Any black caught in a city without a pass or proper permit was eligible for immediate imprisonment.

Today, much of the apartheid system has been dismantled, but re-building housing for millions of black South Africans has not happened overnight. To visit the townships, tours are offered in most areas, since it is generally not a great idea for clueless white tourists to go ambling around these areas.

So, on our last day in Cape Town, Erin and I took a tour with "Our Pride," the first company to begin offering trips to townships in the mid-1990's. Our guide - Ronnie - grew up during apartheid, raised in Langa, one of Cape Town's largest townships. By some estimates, over a million people live in Langa, although a formal census is difficult to take.

Ronnie took us through Langa, where we visited a local medicine man, shebeen and goat head grill. Since unemployment reaches 50%, Langa was lively on the middle of Monday afternoon. Overall, people were very friendly, although the guilty liberal in me couldn't help feeling a bit uncomfortable as a beacon of relative wealth amongst so much poverty. Since most people own their shacks outright these days, taking electricity and water through an "informal economy," there is little incentive for many to move out of the townships (where they would need to pay rent, water bills, etc.).

At the shebeen, we met the "queen," who shared a bit of the local brew from a #10 tin can. Tasting a bit like Genesee Cream Ale, it seemed inappropriate to reject her offer. Plus she wiped the can with a rag from the ground, so it seemed very clean. These are the type of situations the Hep-A vaccination was made for. (And I remember my friend Ashton proudly telling me one day there are no known pathogens that can live in beer.)

Overall, the township scene is both uplifting and depressing. Many people have no desire to leave and there is a strong culture and sense of community. At the same time, with poverty, unemployment, AIDS and illiteracy rates through the roof, one can't help but feel there is room for improvement.

I read somewhere that travelers must look and learn, and perhaps, try to understand. Understanding is the most we can hope for, and trying to change something is both beyond our means and inappropriate (the hubris). When we first arrived in South Africa, our (white) taxi driver told us there are two South Africas - black and white. After our trip to the townships, I couldn't help feeling this is true. Not necessarily all bad, but very thought provoking nonetheless.

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