Cape Flats, South Africa -- With a couple of swift blows from an axe, a women wrapped in cloth removes a sheep's horns from its head. These sheep are called "smileys," according to Thando, our Xhosa guide. "because of how the lips pull back into a smiley face when they are dead." Smoke fills the air as other women are searing the skin off the head of each sheep using red hot pieces of iron, preparing them for sale in the township. The 'smileys' are a sort of delicacy enjoyed by many who live in the township.
Thando is a local guide who conducts both organized and custom private tours into the townships around Cape Town. A slight man with dreadlocks, and covered in the scars of apartheid, he does not look like the conventional guide. But while the scars on his face, created by the batons of police officers, remind you he was a soldier in the fight against apartheid, his polite demeanor and eloquent speech suggest that he used his words before violence.
Thando brings a sense of hope and optimism to a tour that might be perceived as looking at poor people in a zoo. His pragmatic idealism is contagious and he quickly convinces you that by visiting the townships and meeting the people who live there you are improving their lives. It's a sales pitch that needs to be made because "looking at poor people" is something this tour is not. Rather, it is about making connections and establishing relationships with people who have been subjugated simply because of the colour of their skin. By visiting these townships you empower them first with money (Thando himself lives in a township and you can patronize the local craft markets); also, you help to foster a sense of importance among those who live in the townships.
Thando starts his tour in Cape Town, where a short drive from the Waterfront brings you to District Six and the Apartheid museum housed inside an old building. Inside, remnants of the old District Six are on display – an area that was the scene of forced removals in the 1960s to make way for "white" businesses.
Oddly, amongst some of the factories and businesses the old churches and Mosques still stand. Reflecting on this now vanished community, Thando explains that the churches still stand because "it was the height of the cold war and knocking down churches would have been something only communists did."
The people were moved and relocated to different areas based on racial identity. The museum provides a great starting point to learn about the creation of the townships and a fantastic place to learn about how people have managed to overcome horrible atrocities.
“People shouldn't let their circumstances circumscribe their outlook," Thando reminds us as he looks over a map of what district six used to look like. Where houses and apartments once stood, signatures of old residents mark the map -- an attempt to reconcile the fact that only memories of their homes remain.
From the museum, Thando guides you on a short drive out of Cape Town to various townships such as Laanga, Guguletu, and Khayelitsha. These townships are located along the highway near the international airport. Khayelitsha township is smaller than Manhattan but contains over 1.6 million people.
Along the way you may drive past one of the cemeteries, and looking at the vast space one wonders if apartheid could have killed so many people. However, Thando will quickly correct you since "only the first quarter of the cemetery is filled with the victims of apartheid over 40 years. But look at the rest. These are the victims in only the last 10 years from HIV." As in the rest of Southern Africa, HIV has become an
epidemic in South Africa, infecting as many as 25% of the population.
North Americans tend to think that visiting a township is one of the most hazardous
things you can do in Africa especially in light of the this years "xenophobic" attacks against black immigrants and because the South African murder rate is one of the highest in the world with much of that violence occuring within or near townships. However, visiting a township remains wonderfully safe.
"When you visit a township," Thando says, "you become the guest of the township, and therefore you are taken care of." This feeling of being "taken care of" is pervasive as people smile and wave as you pass through. The children are the most unabashed as they rush around you when you walk through the township, each vying for the best position to hold your hand. "The children don't fear white people," Thando says. "They don't know apartheid, and they are the future."
Within fifteen minutes of arriving you will be surrounded by a half dozen smiling children all clinging to at least a finger. They are happy to talk to one of their new "friends" who have come to visit their home. Some might be surprised that these children do not beg. They don't ask for money or candy, even though they are amongst the poorest people in South Africa. However, they will ask you to take their picture and will love it if you have a digital camera so that they can see themselves. "Feel free to take as many photos as you like," Thando says. "This is about people connecting with people, and the more we speak to each other the more we see our commonality."
That is why it's important to visit and walk around the townships. "Before, the tour buses would drive by," Thando says, "but no one would visit and we began to question our own existence. Now we have friends from Canada, Germany, and the U.S. and we no longer question our own self worth." This is evident in the townships
where more tourists visit as they are much cleaner than those that don't attract visitors.
Aside from improving the "self worth" of people in the townships, tourism is bringing much needed money into an economy struggling to survive. "There aren't many work opportunities" Thando explains, and with unemployment within the townships reaching 70%, many have turned to the "second economy."
This second economy consists of small-scale work within the townships, either making crafts or selling "township art" in the city through dealers or street vendors. Others find employment building and fixing houses in the community, or owning and operating a local bar (often a shack with a hand-painted sign).
Tourism has become an increasingly important factor improving the economy of the townships. Near the end of your tour , for example, Thando may take you to Vicky's Bed and Breakfast. Here amongst the houses made of old wood palettes and corrugated tin is a small two-storey building built by Vicky as a destination for foreigners to stay while visiting South Africa. For less than $30 dollars, Vicky's offers you a beautiful room and a morning meal. Vicky also provides an opportunity for visitors to give back to this community through donations or gifts. Outside Vicky's B&B, you find a number of vendors eager to sell very inexpensive yet beautiful township jewelery, and nearby stands a bar in which to relax and chat with the locals.
Thando finishes the tour by taking you on a walk through the community where you continue to be followed by children. He spouts statistics about how some townships have no electricity, one toilet for every 64 people, and only a single water tap per thousand people. The poverty is palpable but the feeling you have when you leave is not one of despair. Aside from the smiling children laughing at their images in the back of your digital camera, Thando gives you an experience that would be
difficult to find elsewhere. You leave with hope and optimism and the satisfaction, as he puts it, "that you have been part of the solution and not part of the problem."
Originally Published in the Nashwaak Review.
Travis Steffens leads active-travel tours for Backroads Inc. Travel through Belize, Costa Rica, South Africa and Botswana, as well as in the Canadian Rockies.