Langa township

We then walked through the various parts of Langa, which is clearly divided into lower class, middle class, and upper class areas.

The lower classes still live in makeshift shacks and shared spaces. These people don’t have to pay rent or water (which comes from a shared stand pipe outdoors), but they do have to pay for electricity, which is metered. The poorest of all, who can’t afford electricity, either steal it or live without it. These lower class areas continue to grow as people come from other African countries, such as Zimbabwe, Congo, and Nigeria. Such people pay protection money to gang leaders to enable them to live peacefully in the township. The government generally turns a blind eye to the growing population problem. In some places, they have installed a small number of ‘portaloos’ and plumbed them in to mains drainage, saying that they have provided basic sanitation and ‘reasonable living conditions’ for people in the townships. This does not take into account that there is no refuse collection or medical care in the poorest parts of Langa or that people have to share cramped living spaces with many others.

Middle-class people in Langa live in small brick and mortar homes. Many of them have to share the space with other families. Most of these homes were built in the mid-nineties following the end of apartheid. Since then, there have been very few new homes constructed. The waiting time for one of these homes is around 15 to 20 years! People who do live in them have to pay rent to the government, so they are usually jobholders, either running small businesses within the township, or commuting to Cape Town each day to work as maids, security guards, waiters, etc.

The upper classes within the townships live in nice houses with gardens. They work as doctors, teachers, accountants, etc. Some choose to stay in Langa to give back to the community they grew up in. However, many others are unable to move out due to the prohibitively high house prices in predominantly white suburbs.

There is, unfortunately, still a huge wealth disparity between black and white in South Africa. When I asked our guide if there was any resentment in the townships thirty years after democracy came to the country, he said, ‘Of course, but we feel powerless. Politicians of all persuasions are corrupt. There is nothing we can do.’ It is a sad indictment of what we have come to know as a varied, vibrant, youthful nation full of hope and optimism. But is this a false impression given to travellers passing through? I hope South Africa finds a way to bring a decent standard of living to all its citizens, not just the white and privileged few black ones.Read more