Township Tourism in South Africa

Soweto

It could only be the can-do spirit of South Africans that took what most people con­sider to be one of our country’s fail­ings, and turned it into some­thing pos­it­ive. Township tour­ism, which took off after our first post-Apartheid elec­tions in 1994, is becom­ing increas­ingly more pop­u­lar, as vis­it­ors to the coun­try look for a more ‘authen­tic’ exper­i­ence, away from game reserves, Table Mountain, and the usual breath­tak­ing scenery.

The idea is pretty much self-explanatory; vis­it­ors are taken on guided tours through South Africa’s town­ships - his­tor­ic­ally mar­gin­al­ised com­munit­ies where non-whites were forced to live dur­ing the sep­ar­at­ist Apartheid regime. The sprawl­ing, densely over­pop­u­lated and poverty-stricken set­tle­ments are still home to the major­ity of South Africa’s people, and are a far cry from the usual shiny com­mer­cial tour­ist hubs such as the V&A Waterfront ...

Gugulethu Walking Tour

Of the vast num­ber of town­ships across South Africa, a hand­ful are tourist-friendly, due to their prox­im­ity to cit­ies and estab­lished infra­struc­ture. These include Soweto (South Africa’s largest town­ship) in Johannesburg, and Langa (the old­est), Khayelitsha (second largest) and Gugulethu (a shortened ver­sion of igugu lethu, which is Xhosa for our pride) in Cape Town. 

Most tours (start­ing at R350 per per­son) include guided walks through sec­tions of the low-cost hous­ing and shacks, as well as vis­its to places of interest, includ­ing town­ship schools and sites ded­ic­ated to people and events pivotal in the struggle against Apartheid. As you mosey along, check out the local craft stalls for souven­irs, and, if you can stom­ach it, you could sample a ‘smi­ley’ - a boiled sheep’s head, the cook­ing pro­cess hav­ing stretched back its gums to give the some­what macabre impres­sion that it’s smil­ing. Chances are you’ll also run across a san­goma or tra­di­tional healer, whose mys­tical powers and potions guar­an­tee cures for everything from impot­ence to Aids -  which are taken very ser­i­ously by some of the local people.  

Journey of Rememberance

Though there is cri­ti­cism of town­ship tour­ism as being voyeur­istic, the upshot is that it brings a por­tion of South Africa’s luc­rat­ive tour­ism sec­tor to the poorest of its people. Local res­taur­ants, bars and crafts­men bene­fit fin­an­cially from the tours, and there are even a few gues­t­houses rid­ing the wave, for the more intrepid trav­el­ler who fan­cies an overnight stay.

Possibly more import­ant than the eco­nomic bene­fits how­ever, is that this brand of tour­ism opens visitor’s eyes to the real­ity of the liv­ing con­di­tions of much of our pop­u­la­tion, and the urgent need for its ameli­or­a­tion. At the same time, it shows them a place not just full of poverty and strife, but also full of energy, cul­ture and hope for the future. 

But it’s not all warm and fuzzy. South Africa is still strug­gling with a ser­i­ous crime prob­lem, and tour­ists need to be fore­warned about the pos­sible danger involved. Though incid­ents are few and far between, and in gen­eral the com­munit­ies jeal­ously guard the safety of this enter­prise that bene­fits them so much, it non­ethe­less pays to be cau­tious. Aim to take a morn­ing or early after­noon tour, avoid vis­it­ing the she­beens (local bars where alco­hol was sold illeg­ally) after dark and, most import­antly, DO NOT visit the town­ships on your own - make use of one of the many tour oper­at­ors and guides available.

Useful Links:
For view Township Tours avail­able and to con­tact tour guides please see:
Soweto Tours (for tours to Soweto in Johannesburg)
Liziwe's Tours (for tours to Guguletu and other Cape Town town­ships)
Take a Journey of Remembrance (On the Journey of Remembrance former free­dom fight­ers take you back to a time when incid­ents as the Trojan Horse and Gugulethu Seven were com­mon in South Africa).