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MiriamMannak
MiriamMannak
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Walking tours through Langa

  • February 27, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by MiriamMannak from Cape Town, South Africa
Walking tours through Langa

Part of my 48 hour townships experience was a walking tour through the township of Langa, covering three different residential areas:

1. The Old Hostels: These housing units were build in the 1920's to host migrant workers from the Eastern Cape. Each hostel consisted of units or apartments, with each three or four rooms. Each room housed three to four men, and women were not allowed.

When the ban on women was lifted, each room soon became the home of three families. The children slept on the floor, the parents in the bed. The old hostels still exists, and are still being used. It is incredible that in a new South Africa, which is supposed to be a better place for all, people still live in inhuman conditions. We visited one of the hostels, and it was heart breaking. The Walls were blackened by petroleum and coal stoves, windows were broken, and it stank and it was over crowded.

2. The New Flats are new housing units that offer families decent living conditions. A difference between day and night if you look at the Old Hostels. Only one family per unit, consisting of several rooms and adequate facilities like a toilet, running water, and electricity.

The plan is to move everyone who either lives in an old hostel or shack into similar housing units.

3. Informal Settlement: These areas are actually illegal squatter camps, constructed by (for instance) the many migrants who flock to the Cape en masse. Since there is a housing problem, they have no choice than to live in a self-constructed shack made of wood, hard board, iron plates, and everything else they can find.

According to the statistics, 16,000 families from outside of the Western Cape province flock to Cape Town every year in search of employment and a better future. Most of them end up in an illegal settlement like Langa

No, for a lot of people not too much changed in the last 10 years since South Africa gained its freedom.

During my walking tour through Langa I also visited a day care center, where the children had prepared a song. I could not help smiling when 30 or so enthusiastic high-pitch voices kicked off the national anthem Nkosi Sikelele Afrika (God Bless Afrika) on maximum volume. While humming along, I silently prayed—and I am not even religious—for a better future for these children, the future leaders of South Africa.

From journal 48 Hours in the Townships - Langa & Gugulethu

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