Township Tour
Bethany and I went on a township tour with Calabash Tours Saturday morning. I was a little nervous because the last time I was in the townships, I left with a very bad feeling.
Our driver and tour guide picked us up at home at 10 AM in a nice big van, along with another girl from the UK. They started out driving around Central, the oldest area of town, which is dangerous now. There are a lot of Nigerians who have moved to South Africa and live in Central. There is a big stereotype against Nigerians, even by the black Africans driving us around, because many of them are drug dealers. We drove up to the Donkin Reserve: Donkin is the last name of the man who started the city of P.E. His wife Elizabeth passed away 2 years before he came to South Africa, and so he built a pyramid memorial for her, and named the town after her. We also stopped by Fort Fredrick and the city hall.
Finally, we began driving out to the township. They’re hard to describe, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. We drove through several of the townships, some in better condition than others. The tin and wood shacks make up the squatter camps, which are illegal. The government tells people not to build their homes in these areas, but they do anyway, until the government builds houses for everyone. The brightly colored houses are the ones promised by the government. After several years of living there, the family owns the house. This is to stop people from selling the houses to get the money instead.
From the top of a hill, you can see for miles, and the township houses cover every inch. 500,000 people live there.
We also drove through a nicer area, where the stone houses were slightly bigger and most had fences or walls surrounding the house. This is where the African police lived under Apartheid: since they were cooperating with the government, they received better housing. This is also where our tour guides told us that most of our students at Alex and Pearson probably live (they can afford to attend the English schools in town).
One house that we drove by had brick walls surrounding the house and yard. On top of the wall, jagged pieces of glass and broken bottles had been glued, sticking up to act as barbed wire and prevent people from hopping the wall (which was at least 6 feet tall anyway). We stopped at one of the small shops for a juice or cool drink break, and then walked to a school that is partially funded by this tour we were on. They educate and feed 120 children whose families can’t afford to feed them. Some families receive money for the children, but they spend the money on alcohol instead. They have more kids to receive money, but they can’t afford to spend the children to school or feed them properly.
We met some of these children, who shyly sang some songs for us. In the Xhosa culture, it is impolite to look an adult in the eye. They show respect by being quiet and looking down.
We passed several cemeteries. Many many graves still had the fresh mounds of dirt covering them, and many headstones were simply pieces of cardboard. We also passed a funeral parade and 2 other funerals. AIDS is a huge problem here, but it’s dishonorable for someone to die of AIDS. The current President, Thabo Mbeki, has even claimed that AIDS is a disease caused by poverty. However, we did see some billboards in the township promoting safe sex. It’s interesting that the HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns are seen in the townships easily, but you hardly see them in the city.
Finally, we drove past a new memorial for some of the freedom fighters and a new anti-Apartheid museum that is not yet open. There is a huge controversy surrounding these two structures, because many people feel that the money should be spent on housing for the people first.
Our driver and tour guide picked us up at home at 10 AM in a nice big van, along with another girl from the UK. They started out driving around Central, the oldest area of town, which is dangerous now. There are a lot of Nigerians who have moved to South Africa and live in Central. There is a big stereotype against Nigerians, even by the black Africans driving us around, because many of them are drug dealers. We drove up to the Donkin Reserve: Donkin is the last name of the man who started the city of P.E. His wife Elizabeth passed away 2 years before he came to South Africa, and so he built a pyramid memorial for her, and named the town after her. We also stopped by Fort Fredrick and the city hall.
Finally, we began driving out to the township. They’re hard to describe, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. We drove through several of the townships, some in better condition than others. The tin and wood shacks make up the squatter camps, which are illegal. The government tells people not to build their homes in these areas, but they do anyway, until the government builds houses for everyone. The brightly colored houses are the ones promised by the government. After several years of living there, the family owns the house. This is to stop people from selling the houses to get the money instead.
From the top of a hill, you can see for miles, and the township houses cover every inch. 500,000 people live there.
We also drove through a nicer area, where the stone houses were slightly bigger and most had fences or walls surrounding the house. This is where the African police lived under Apartheid: since they were cooperating with the government, they received better housing. This is also where our tour guides told us that most of our students at Alex and Pearson probably live (they can afford to attend the English schools in town).
One house that we drove by had brick walls surrounding the house and yard. On top of the wall, jagged pieces of glass and broken bottles had been glued, sticking up to act as barbed wire and prevent people from hopping the wall (which was at least 6 feet tall anyway). We stopped at one of the small shops for a juice or cool drink break, and then walked to a school that is partially funded by this tour we were on. They educate and feed 120 children whose families can’t afford to feed them. Some families receive money for the children, but they spend the money on alcohol instead. They have more kids to receive money, but they can’t afford to spend the children to school or feed them properly.
We met some of these children, who shyly sang some songs for us. In the Xhosa culture, it is impolite to look an adult in the eye. They show respect by being quiet and looking down.
We passed several cemeteries. Many many graves still had the fresh mounds of dirt covering them, and many headstones were simply pieces of cardboard. We also passed a funeral parade and 2 other funerals. AIDS is a huge problem here, but it’s dishonorable for someone to die of AIDS. The current President, Thabo Mbeki, has even claimed that AIDS is a disease caused by poverty. However, we did see some billboards in the township promoting safe sex. It’s interesting that the HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns are seen in the townships easily, but you hardly see them in the city.
Finally, we drove past a new memorial for some of the freedom fighters and a new anti-Apartheid museum that is not yet open. There is a huge controversy surrounding these two structures, because many people feel that the money should be spent on housing for the people first.
posted by Katie | 11:23 AM
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