Staying in the Townships of Cape Town
Langa, Cape Flats
For those of us whities who live in Cape Town, the townships of Khayelitsha, Gugs (Gugelethu) and Langa are places one seldom visits. Most of us give them a rather wide berth, if truth be told, their association with crime, gangsterism, poverty, Aids and anti-white sentiment enough to maintain the segregation of our past.
And yet, on the odd occasion an attempt to find a short-cut to the airport, or a flat tyre just outside Langa (during which I was given tea, a chair on which to sit and a far cheaper offer on a pair of new tyres than I would have got elsewhere), has brought me into contact with a totally different view of the townships.
Anxiety is met only with open-hearted hospitality and kindness. And for any of my friends who visit from Europe, a township tour is an automatic itinerary item, making my avoidance of something they hunger to visit, ever so slightly embarrassing. I begin to suspect that my take on townships is skewed. Continued
Article by: The Team @ SA-Venues
