In the past, to keep the residents of the townships docile, the government (during the apartheid days) use to have lots of these drinking shacks around and ensure they were always supplied with alcohol (not for free too) with the idea being that drunk residents were easier to handle and less like to revolt. I haven’t got the details of our guide to hand but as soon as I find it, I will update the post with his details as he comes very highly recommended by locals and even the tourism board. The sense of danger around them is not unwarranted and although you can visit many, there are certain places in them that even the locals avoid so use the local knowledge available here and get yourself a guide. *Random note of caution – Never visit a township on your own, always visit with a proper local guide. The township we visited was Red Location township – South Africa’s very first township. This being said, I knew you could visit townships and seeing as I missed my opportunity when we were in Cape Town, on this trip to Port Elizabeth, I knew I definitely had to visit. With South African townships however, there was also a sense of danger around them – this was particularly so because every time you read or saw something in the news about townships, it was typically not great news. I can’t even pin-point why – I’ve just always been curious. In a similar way as I would when walking through residential areas in London and having a sneaky glance as I walked past people’s home, I’ve always been intrigued by how other people live.
Ever since I clapped eyes on a South African township as we arrived into Cape Town, I’d been intrigued by them.
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