{"id":1084,"date":"2013-03-14T03:37:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-14T07:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/?page_id=1084"},"modified":"2013-03-14T03:37:00","modified_gmt":"2013-03-14T07:37:00","slug":"cape-flat-townships","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/travels\/south-africa\/cape-flat-townships\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Flat Townships"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GeneralTownship\"<\/a>Most of South Africa\u2019s population live in unincorporated areas outside of cities and towns, in the townships.\u00a0 One can see Table Mountain and Cape Town, proper, from these areas, but few ever get to experience the life of the city.\u00a0 The average South African wage earner makes less than $1 per day, with more than 24 million people \u201cofficially\u201d earning between 0\u201350,000 Rand\/year (2010 statistic; $5499 USD in 2013). This population is primarily Black, not having seen appreciable economic gains since the country began governance under the African National Conference (ANC) in the mid 1990s.<\/p>\n

\"Gugulethu_Green\"<\/a>There are several large townships outside of Cape Town; the most well known of which include Khayeltischa, Gugulethu, and Langa. These areas began as dormitories for the male day laborers needed for the city to function.\u00a0 Initially, women were banned from employment in the city and wives were not allowed to join their husbands.\u00a0 But, as families continued to migrate to the area, and the Apartheid government couldn\u2019t respond, shacks were constructed in the Old Crossroads area, leading to the development of the Townships.<\/p>\n

\"Gugulethu_WashDay\"<\/a>Even after the informal settlements were bulldozed or destroyed by the police, new houses were erected soon thereafter, replacing the ones lost.\u00a0 Homes constructed from scrap and salvaged materials, corrugated metal siding and roofs, cargo pallets and castoff wood, are the norm. Small, cramped quarters for large and extended families are stacked side by side, kilometer after kilometer, across the Cape Flats.<\/p>\n

\"Kayalisha_Store\"<\/a>Khayelitsha, or the “New Home” in Xhosa, was established in 1983 in the Cape Flats for all illegal Black settlers who had lived in the area for at least ten years.\u00a0 This one township, alone, covers an area of about 47 km2<\/sup> (>18 mi2<\/sup>) wherein ~1.5 million people live. Khayelitsha is considered to be the fastest growing, largest single township in South Africa. And, as in any city of more than 1 million people, the same services necessary for the \u201ccity\u201d to function also are found here.<\/p>\n