In South Africa, the term township usually refers to the urban living areas that, from the late 19^th century until the end of Apartheid, were reserved for non-white. 
 
During the Apartheid Era, from 1948 to 1994, the ruling Nationalist Party, dominated by white Afrikaaners, embarked upon a policy of segregation.  Townships were designed as fortresses of apartheid control, mainly built on the periphery of towns and cities they were a malicious and deliberate use of urban planning in order to alienate communities.
 
However, that alienation only brought the people closer and as such the townships are infused with a community spirit and togetherness.  Post-apartheid, non-white citizens are allowed to integrate into the plusher inner-city suburbs but many have remained in the townships, whether it is by choice or lack of money available to move elsewhere.  Residents have since modified these homogenous spaces, personalised the houses with incremental upgrades, cultivated gardens, the inventive use of scavenged materials and lively paint schemes.
 
After receiving the bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa witnessed large-scale infrastructure investment.  Over the past decade a number of ambitious public space projects were set in motion and recent projects have attempted to transform the townships into towns.  Shacks are constantly being replaced by government subsidised houses, hostels are being carved up into proper family quarters, roads are continuously being tarred, and basic services are regularly being installed. 
 
Across the country, new and rehabilitated museums, monuments and leisure accommodations have also transformed the townships into cultural destinations.  See for yourself how South Africa’s people continue to live in the townships, the home of most black people in South Africa, and taste their day-to-day life.  Go on a tavern crawl, where you can dance the night away to the tune of jazzy African rhythms and imbibe traditional Zulu tipple, sorghum home-brewed beer. 
 
Follow this up by paying your respects at attractions like Hector Pieterson Memorial and the Museum in the Orlando West township (Soweto), the Red Location Museum in New Brighton township (Port Elizabeth) and Mahatma Gandhi’s Printing Press and Home in the Inanda township (Durban), which appeal to South African and foreign tourists alike.
 
While the plusher suburbs have more of a polished veneer, and may serve up more in the way of consumer conveniences, it’s the townships in South Africa where you discover the emotional connection and unique kinship that underpins South Africa’s working class.  

Share this article: