Township life

In May 2022 I had the opportunity to spend a day in the township of Khayelitsha, just outside Cape Town. The name is Xhosa for 'New Home'. It is reputed to be the largest and fastest-growing township in South Africa. Khayelitsha is located on the Cape flats.

A small group of travel agents was being shown around by Juma Mkwela from Juma Art Tours and I have to admit that a number of pre-conceived ideas about townships and township life went out the window that day.

The general perception of townships in Europe is probably one of bleak shacks, poverty and lack of education but we were soon to learn that township life is not exactly like the perceptions the tourists tend to have. Khayelitsha is not 'just' a township, this is a city in itself! With close to 4 million inhabitants, everything needed for daily life is there, from kindergarten, primary school and secondary education (52 schools in total), through clinics and a hospital to shops. The township has a very young population, with only 7% over 50 years of age. Although many residents still live in 'informal dwellings', there are brick 2-bedroom houses in the township and also a small but growing middle class population. The township has a good transport infrastructure and the MyCiti bus system, Golden Arrow bus and various trains serve the location on a regular basis and no fewer than 6 train stations. There are three provincial government clinics, numerous municipal clinics and a 300-bed district hospital.

One of the greatest surprises was the Spade, a boutique hotel and spa, with a small swimming pool, a treatment room for spa treatments and a gym. All rooms are tastefully furnished, and the premises are adorned with modern art. The restaurant serves delicious meals, which we were treated to as well, and the service was impeccable. The owner, Annette Skaap, has turned this into a little gem that deserves to be more widely known and appreciated.

The individual homes, whilst small and largely out of corrugated iron, are painted with art to make the entire place a friendlier looking environment and there are opportunities for social tourism as volunteers in numerous projects around Khayelitsha, like community gardening, which our group took part in, or the painting of more buildings to give the place a lighter and friendlier feel. After lunch and a look around the hotel, we were treated to a performance by the gospel choir Isibane-se-Afrika. They sell some hand-made curios in their small shop to support the choir and are only too happy to treat visitors to a performance of song and dance. They show huge enthusiasm and some of our group had an opportunity to join in the celebration of music and dance. A very interesting day, which added much to our education.