Task 15: Visit a South African township - Part 2

This continues directly from Part 1, published earlier today.

Roger, our tour guide, would really like to move to the third section of the township, which has single storey brick built houses that are part of a government housing programme.  There aren't many of them and demand is high, so although he has had his name on the list for years, he isn't optimistic about his chances.  We visited one of those houses, which has been the home for many years of a mixed-race woman now in her late fifties.  She works as a nurse in the care home in Franschhoek, as well as working part-time in the local craft centre which she helped set up, and running a restaurant in her garden where she provides home-cooked meals for up to 70 people at a time:

While Roger waits in the hope of being able to move into similar accommodation, his plan is to save enough to buy the large shack across the road from where he lives now, and convert it into a three storey building comprising three flats, which he would rent out.  Ideally he would like to live in Franschhoek village, in one of the small houses that were originally intended to people in his position, but these are now completely beyond his reach as the price had doubled in recent years because white families buy them for their nannies.

The three-tier pecking order also applies to the creches in the township.  We visited the middle-ranking one, which has over 30 children in one room, with no outside space.  The children spend all day there apart from Sunday, from 7am to 5.30pm, sitting on the floor.  The two teachers, who each speak three languages - Khosa, English and Afrikaans, as well as some Shona - seemed genuinely caring but their facilities are minimal.  (By contrast the creche in the third section has plenty of outdoor space with lots of playground equipment.)  We took a crate of apples and bags of crisps for the children, who looked a fairly happy bunch despite their circumstances:

The exception was Roger's own daughter, who has only been there three days.  While Roger's fiancee was studying financial management, their little girl was living with his mother in the Eastern Cape.  Life there is very different, as it is an economically undeveloped rural area with its own language, customs, dress, hair styles, food, etc.  The pace of life is slow, shoes are rarely worn and most young children are being looked after by their grandmothers while the parents have moved to the Western Cape in search of work.  Now that Roger's fiancee has finished her course and is looking for a job, their daughter has come back to live with them.  It is a huge and difficult transition, and not surprisingly she is finding it tough.  There is little doubt she will adjust quickly, learning Khosa and English and making new friends, but for now it is hard.

Unlike many townships, there is little violence here - partly because it is relatively small and therefore easier to police - but theft and drug-related crime is a major problem.  There is a fairly palpable tension between the South African residents and immigrants, particularly Zimbabweans, who are well educated and willing to work for as little as a third of the usual going rate - which for someone like Roger is only R300 a day (about £18).  One of the reasons they can live on so little - apart from desperation - is that unlike the South Africans they don't care about wearing designer brands.  Virtually all of them, other than those who are on drugs, take pride in having clean clothes - and the schoolchildren emerge from even the most squalid-looking shacks wearing immaculate uniforms - but for the South Africans it really matters to be seen wearing Nike, Reebok etc.  They may be counterfeit but they proclaim status.  You can live much more cheaply if status isn't an issue.

Despite these tensions and the poor living conditions, there appears to be a strong sense of community, helped by having a large and well equipped primary school in the township which serves all three tiers.  About 97% of them are Christian and although the men drink a lot on Saturday nights in the so-called tavern - Castle lager, not home-made hooch - most of them will go to Church on Sunday morning, especially those of mixed-race.  The graveyard is beautifully maintained:

The creativity and resilience of the inhabitants is clearly evident in the way they paint and decorate their shacks and houses.  The restaurant, now sadly defunct, boasts impressive murals and the fencing around the open top floor - from where there is a fine view over the rugby ground (Franschhoek favours rugby rather than football) - consists of a variety of metal bedheads:

It was a fascinating visit and I wish more tourists were aware of the opportunity to see the township - or even of its existence.  If they knew that the smiling waiter or shop assistant, immaculately dressed, lives in a shack with no running water and only a couple of hours' electricity a day, they would be more likely to want to support their opportunities for economic development and a fairer chance in life.