The day after I went to the funeral I drove out to Khayelitsha to spend two nights in the township at a bed and breakfast run by a woman named Thope Lekau, who is an amazing woman. During apartheid, she worked as a paralegal in the townships training other paralegals to work in their communities to teach people about the (limited) civil rights they had. During most of apartheid the police were the main enforcers in the townships and they ruled with an iron fist. They regularly harassed people, arrested them, and in some cases murdered people to enforce the government's policies. For a long time the police were an extremely unwelcome sight, and people did not know about the small protections they did have. The paralegals in those communities also served as touchpoints for evidence collection. If people had been detained or harassed and they wanted to fight back, the paralegals would help them collect evidence so that the few progressive lawyers who would take their cases could come into the community and quickly take whatever action they could. Needless to say, Thope and all of these paralegals were dangerous to the state and often had to run from police raids and essentially work undercover to do their work.
Thope now runs the Kopanong bed and breakfast with her daughter, Mpho, who handles the tours, getting people situated and all sorts of everything else. Thope doesn't just run the b&b though, she is very involved with the whole community and has made it her personal life's work to help the community out. She works a lot in developing the "entrepreneurial spirit" among women in the townships and runs various workshops on how to make your home into a prosperous b&b. Here are the digs - amazingly nice for the townships:
I loved talking to her and Mpho. She talks a lot about her responsibilities, and loved to explain that "now I must deliver!" on the promises and commitments she has made. Here's the incredibly welcoming entryway:
I spent two great nights there and got to feel at home, and the day in the middle I got to see around Khayelitsha with Mpho. Khayelitsha is much, much larger than Langa, the other township I had been in, and has about 1.5 million people. From lookout hill, it stretches as far as the eye can see:
It's the fastest growing, and next to Soweto, the largest. People flood in from the Eastern Cape and live in informal settlements and build shacks like these:
Business in the Townships and Xenophobia
There isn't much industry, but there are tuck shops (convenience stores), fruit and veg stands, and shebeens (informal bars set up in people's houses) on most streets and corners. Oh, and there are TONS of hair places and barber shops which, like in the states, serve as informal places for folks to gossip and socialize.
This is a small tuck shop down the street from Thope's. It is owned by a Somali man who, during the recent xenophobia attacks, was targeted and run out of the township. The nice thing though was that the neighborhood rallied around him to make sure he wasn't hurt in any way. He left the township, but now is back and doing fine.
These guys could cut some mean hair. I need a haircut - but I'm a bit shy and I'm not sure they would know what to do with the mess I call a scalp. These next two are from a shebeen, and there were two right next to each other - one for the young guys, which was pretty rowdy, and one for the older guys, where they drink Umgomboti, a traditional beer made from sorghum. It tastes a bit off to my palate - but I've had a few different batches and some are better than others. Check the face.
These guys thought I was a complete wuss, I'm sure...
There are lots of these farms stands, and they sell these great oranges called nartjies - delicious. Here's one:
Speaking of farms, and in the grand Gass family tradition of photographing anything that says moo, there are cows here (I know, you thought city? welcome to the twilight zone of farms and cities, the broad, crazy mush of Khayelitsha). These guys stopped traffic, and this one had an itch:
Here's a typical street:
Kids, Big Kids, and More Kids
In the townships it is very much a village raising a child, and children moves freely around and in and out of homes and people's arms. They also love soccer. These guys were good - wish I could have caught some of the acrobatics on film, but I had to snap fast:
Mpho was a great guide around, and the kids flocked to her and me - often with shouts of "Molo umlungu!" (Hello, white man!)
When the kids aren't hanging out, they're at the community daycare center, which is free, and pretty well run but somewhat overcrowded. I wanted to catch them at recess, but they were taking naps. One of them caught me though:)
When they're just a bit older, they can set out a bit more, and play in playgrounds which badly need cleaning and some grass.
There are plenty of older people around too. This guy lived in the neighborhood and promised me that if I stayed a bit longer I could see god in the face of a child. Perhaps a little crazy, or perhaps just very honest?
I visited a 12th grade class which was great, but heartbreaking - many of these kids don't have the means to get to college and their next step is very uncertain. Education is so valued here, and yet so underfunded and teachers are in dire need of training. These kids all asked me how to get loans and somehow get to keep going to school.
In the next few days I came to know Khayelitsha even better, and in an amazing way, but first I went to Jo'burg and got my mind blown some more. Thanks Mpho!
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