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Published: July 16th 2006
There are many impoverished townships scattered around South Africa. During the apartheid era, many blacks and coloreds were forcefully removed to some of the lands that were a lot less fertile. I've past many townships during my trip through South Africa. People live in tiny shacks that are constructed out of corrugated metal sheets and each township has a population of tens of thousands of people.
Friday night, Amy and I decided to take a tour of the Bongolethu township just outside of Oudtshoorn. The population of Bongolethu is about 15,000 which is considered small and 93%!o(MISSING)f the men, women, and youth are unemployed. Our guide's name was Thando (pronounced
ton-do) and he was very enthusiastic about his township which he has grown up in for the last 25 years. He told us that Bongolethu stood for
Our Pride
, and we could certainly see that he had a lot of pride in his home. The people that we met were poor, but extremely hospitable. Thando had a car, so he was able to take us to different places in the township. Some of the places that we got to see were the first house that was built in 1967, churches, a typical township store, the schools, the home of the traditional healer, some of the shebeens (or bars, both illegal and legal), inside the home of a typical family, and to a braai (bbq) gathering.
Since it was Friday, there were lots of people out cooking braais and there were a lot of kids playing outside. The tour was very laid back and informal. We popped into many peoples homes. Everyone had access to running water and electricity. The electricity was on a pay as you go scheme. 5 Rand (7 rand to the dollar) would buy them a certain number of units of electricity which would usually last 2 days. This method of payment was used so that people wouldn't have a huge bill at the end of the month to pay. Instead, they could scrounge up enough money to pay for two days, go a couple of days without electricity, and scrounge up some more money for another couple of days.
In the first house that we visited, the small house was inhabited by 7 people: the mom, the dad, and 5 sisters. The littlest was adorable and kept wanting us to pick her up. The girls loved taking pictures with us. It was a special treat for them to see the pictures afterwards on my digital camera. Their house was divided up into four rooms, the living room/kitchen, the bathroom, and two bedrooms.
We stopped into an illegal shebeen which reminded me of a college frat party. They had really upbeat south african pop music blaring on the stereo, and there were people getting drunk and dancing inside. The owner of the place sold large bottles of beer which he bought in town. We decided to try one of the beers brewed in South Africa called Black Label. One of the ladies that was a little tipsy kept wanting us to go to her house across the street because she wanted to show us something. We were a little unsure, but Thando assured us it would be fine. So we went across the street and in the back yard, they were barbequeing calf's head and hooves. Basically, they get the parts that the butcher doesn't want, they burn all the hair off the head and the hooves, and then they wrap it to sell. That was their form of income.
The homes that we visited ranged in size. Some were the small shacks that were made out of corrugate metal, but many of the shacks had been rebuilt by the government. They were larger and a lot more solid because they were made out of concrete. One of the homes that we visited was actually really nice compared to the other homes. It was the home of the traditional healer. She was a well respected member of the community. It was her job to free people from curses or sicknesses with herbs and witchcraft. When I asked her how she became a healer, she said that she had to study under the sea for a month. And there, she learned what herbs, or animal skins, etc she should used to do different things. We paid her 50 rand each for a reading. She made us untie our shoes before she would tell our fortunes. It was a fun experience.
We visited a typical shop in the township. It was interesting because the owner of the shop was Indian. He was from Bangladesh. Thando told us that Bongolethu was one of the most multiracial townships in South Africa. In the shops, people have to stand behind the counter and point to the items that they want, they're not allowed to just browse. Most of the shops and shebeens had metal grating separating the customers from the sellers for security purposes.
The schools that we passed were large brick buildings. They looked like a normal school from the outside. All of the schools were funded by the government. Teachers are considered government employees.
We passed the library, which has 7 computers with internet access.
We hung out for a while at a legal shebeen, or tavern. It looked like it was a pretty popular hangout and looked like a normal pub. Thando's friends were there and we had a couple of beers and talked for a while. They were all very nice and fun to hang out with. We definitely got a lot of looks throughout our tour, but the people were all easy to talk to and very hospitable.
Afterwards, we went to Thando's parent's house and met his mom, dad, and sisters. We also went to his house to meet his wife. Our last stop before we headed back to the backpackers, was a friends house. They were all having a braai (bbq). I tried some boerwors (sausage).
In the end, we had a great time. I was amazed at how comfortable and safe I felt during the tour. Thando's tours normally take 2.5 hours from 6 to 8:30pm. However, we had such a good time talking to Thando and his friends, and learning about the township and the hardships that they faced that we ended up staying until 10pm!
It was a wonderful experience, and Amy and I will definitely be keeping in touch with Thando. He's really doing a lot to try to raise awareness among the youth, and bring in funds for the community which is great.
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danielle
non-member comment
wow...
hey angela, i hadn't realized you were writing here regularly rather than via email. sounds like you're having a fantastic time! i just caught up reading, and i think that for me, this entry has really highlighted your south african experience--the witch doctor, the housing, the shopkeepers afraid of theft, the food (!). kind of provides some perspective from the mit/american bubble, and i'm glad to hear you're getting that inside look. tell all when we see you soon!!