Slumdogs and Millionaires

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This is certainly a land of great contrasts.

And we probably went from one end of the spectrum to the other in the space of two days back in Cape Town. On Tuesday we went on a "Township" tour, and then on Wednesday we spent the day swanning around the wine region of Paarl-Stellenbosch-Franschoek. Slumming it one day and living it up large the next.

Well we did see how the other half live on the Township tour, thats true. We started in the Malay quarter of Cape Town where the original governors houses were converted into slaves quarters when Indonesian slaves were imported to do the work centuries ago. The terrace houses are spectacular, trying hard to outdo each other in the brilliance of their colours - bright greens, blues and brilliant yellows. A bit different to schist and recessive tones of brown and grey in the Wakatipu.

Next we drove through the infamous District Six where in about 1960 PW Botha ordered the flattening of everything there to make way for privileged whites. 66,000 black people suddenly became homeless with that decision. Such prime real estate in Cape Town too.

Then we drove into some of the townships - Langa where there is huge regeneration going on - proper tarsealed streets, houses which hint at a sense of pride. The people here are still mostly all black but I got the feeling they were at peace with themselves. There are monuments though - we were shown them - so they won't forget the struggle they went through to get this. The date the first black child Eugene was shot for refusing to learn in Afrikaans at school.

Our last destination was the most interesting - the largest township in Cape Town. Kayalishta. Home to 1.2 million black people. Miles and miles of shanties. But again, some hope. The shanties are gradually being replaced by real houses. Small (maybe 50 sq metres) and low cost but proper houses nevertheless. There are a huge number of real houses here now. Many many more shanties no doubt, but starting from a very low base, there is progress. I went into the township of Galashewe in Kimberley every week when I was here 21 years ago playing cricket. We used to go in to coach cricket to the kids. And I never once saw a real house there. Lots of rusted corrugated iron and assorted bits of wood but nothing I thought should be called a house. So things have changed. But it is a very long process and there is still a huge gulf between rich and poor.

Our black guide Owen was very positive about what is happening. But unemployment and education are big issues. Out of that comes crime. But at least progress is being made.

You may or may not be aware of the tension that has arisen here in the past few days. It has the potential to unravel some of the good work that is going on I'd say. Mandela, when he got out, begged the people to forgive the white man rather than have more fighting. But on Saturday Eugene Terre Blanche the former leader of the AWB, a white supremist group, was killed. The Youth Leader of the ANC is a complete loose cannon called Julius Malema and his message is different to what Nelson put out there. His people sing a song with a chorus "kill the boer, kill the farmer". Not doing much for race relations is it. So there is a bit of tension now.

Anyway the day in the townships was sobering but positive I thought.

The next day we put it all behind us and went wine tasting. Paarl and Franschoek are stunning parts of the country and the wine was excellent. Cheap! The history behind these places is amazing - they date back to the late 1600s. Tasting at Nederburg was like a five star restaurant. None of this standing at the bar business. It was a sit down affair. We only got around three wineries - there are something like 200 in the region - but the ones we did were lavish to put it mildly.

On the Thursday we decided to take in a bit of the city. So we spent a few hours at the Castle of Good Hope which is in great shape and full of artists and sculptors etc, as well as some superb musuems with paintings and artefacts dating back through the centuries and also detaining the Anglo-Boer War and SA's involvement in the two World Wars.

Then we went shopping at the street markets - the boys got to test their negotiating skills and so did we. Lunch at the Far Eastrn Food Bazaar which was just full on bustle and noise, plus the food was great and cheap.

We've got Friday left now and then we fly to Joburg on Saturday to pick up our campervan for Kruger. That will be great but I have to say, Cape Town takes a lot of beating as a place to visit. Seth now says he wants to live here.

More tomorrow.

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Photos

What would we know about wine?
Wine tasting is a sit down affair at Nederburg

Kayalitsha
Shanties next to new houses popping up in the townships

Franschoek Scenery
Creative photography or wobbly photographer?

Deals being done at the Market
Susan haggling for something that is probably already cheap

Novice Hagglers
Seth and Mitchy quickly became this guys best customers