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The document discusses the uneven development in Soweto, South Africa since the end of apartheid 18 years ago. While some areas have seen development like fancy cafes and luxury cars, other historic areas like Kliptown still lack basic services and infrastructure with people living in informal housing. The uneven development is due to apartheid-era policies that differently developed the various districts of Soweto.

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497 views2 pages

Script

The document discusses the uneven development in Soweto, South Africa since the end of apartheid 18 years ago. While some areas have seen development like fancy cafes and luxury cars, other historic areas like Kliptown still lack basic services and infrastructure with people living in informal housing. The uneven development is due to apartheid-era policies that differently developed the various districts of Soweto.

Uploaded by

maricotta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Soweto show uneven development after

18 years of democracy

Tourists cycling fearlessly in Soweto are finishing up a historical tour in one of


the world's most famous townships, where they are taught about life during
white-minority rule, known as Apartheid.

On the historic Vilakasi street, where Nobel Prize winners Nelson Mandela and
Desmond Tutu used to live, we now find fancy cafs, street lights, and a wide
display of luxurious cars. When he was released from prison 18 years ago,
Mandela promised the Sowetans a better life. The policies of empowerment
have led to a new generation determined to prove that "successful" and
"Sowetans" could be compatible.

Amos Mtsolonga belong to the new generation of Soweto entrepreneurs. They


launched a concept of a cheap gaming zone in 2006. Today, they have 11
containers with video games inside, spread out over Soweto. Local kids can
come play the latest video games at cheap prices inside the containers.

"Around the township, you find that entertainment for them, is playing soccer.
So we thought, maybe if we do this kind of a setup, this will bring another way
of kids being able to entertain themselves," said Maphongwane.

A brief goodbye to the last group of tourists for the day, and Nkululeko
Shelembe the tour guide goes back to a different Soweto, less shiny.

Just a strip of swamp separates the neat area of Pimville from the shacks of
Kliptown. It is here that the freedom charter, a draft of the current South
African constitution, was signed in 1955 at the height of the anti-apartheid
struggle. Despite its historical importance, Kliptown has not benefited from the
same development as other parts of Soweto.

"Kliptown is still a lower-class area. You still find people that are sharing things
that are supposed to be private, like toilets, and communal water systems. You
still find taps on the street," said Shelembe. "And for a fact that people are still
living in tiny houses or that are made of corrugated iron, that really makes it
lower class for me."

Soweto, short for South West Township, is made up of 25 districts spread out
over 150 square kilometers, and is home to 1.2 million people. Because it was
diversely developed during apartheid, the post-apartheid development didn't
happen at the same pace, says History Professor Noor Nieftagodien.

"There is development, but it is an uneven development. Because next to that


major development, you still have extreme poverty," Nieftagodien said.

Slowly, change is coming to Kliptown, too. Just next to the golf course, which
separates it from a more affluent area, a string of new houses recently was
built to accommodate local families.

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