Townships reveal rarely seen South Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Major Ndaba dons his wildcat-skin hat, stands by his lucky-charm baboon skeleton and poses for the cameras of visitors intent on experiencing a South Africa far removed from game reserves and glistening beaches.

Mr. Ndaba’s dark herbalist store, crammed with tree bark, animal horns and dozens of different powders and potions that he claims will treat everything from AIDS to infertility to flu, is a regular attraction on tours into the sprawling settlements set up by the old apartheid government. They are still home to the majority of the population.

Township tourism has increased hugely in popularity since South Africa’s multiracial elections of 1994.

Soweto, the heart of the anti-apartheid struggle, is Johannesburg’s top tourist attraction, according to local authorities. Tours pass by Nelson Mandela’s first home, that of his former wife, Winnie Madikizela Mandela, and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu as well as monuments to fallen heroes of the struggle against racism.

Even in Cape Town, which lacks the historical significance of Soweto, about 25 percent of foreign visitors take time out from the stunning scenery and beaches to trawl the dusty streets of the wind-swept Cape Flats.

Cape Town’s tourist office estimates that nearly 320,000 foreign visitors went on a township tour last year; more than 80 percent of its 250 licensed tour operators offer such cultural experiences.

There are no reliable figures on the economic impact of the tours, which cost on average $40 for a half-day visit and more for overnight stays in basic but clean houses or shacks.

Simon Kumanya, who runs a craft stall on a dusty corner in Langa, shows the importance of the tours when he explains that the carved wooden and exquisitely beaded souvenirs he sells provide work for about 20 people.

“The Germans are my most important customers,” he says, flicking an ostrich-feather duster and straining his voice above the belting music from a nearby minibus taxi.

City officials are anxious to encourage the tours, especially in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup. The benefits trickle down to the poorest of the poor, with schools and child care centers funded by some of the profits and donations.

“Township tours spread the tourism dividend to the townships. We are simply never going to unlock the huge potential of this city and province if we confine it to Table Mountain and the Waterfront,” says Sheryl Ozinsky, the incoming head of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, in a recent newspaper editorial.

There have been some bad incidents. In November, a group of Germans was robbed by armed thugs while visiting a school in Langa, and a Dutch group was attacked outside a restaurant there. Langa was the first township developed after the 1923 Urban Areas Act tried to force people to live in specific locations.

A year ago, German tour operators on a fact-finding visit were robbed in the Khayelitsha township.

The negative headlines caused a dip in visitors, but officials insist they are the exception and not the rule.

“Crime is a very real threat to continued tourism growth, not just in the townships. It would be a tremendous pity and ultimately self-defeating if … we simply throw up our hands and confine the tourism experience to a few high-security areas,” Miss Ozinsky says.

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