Capetown again..... I visited the Townships in South Africa and met with Desmond Tutu and was reminded again of how deeply divided South Africa is by both race and class. Amid the richness and beauty of Capetown, the Townships are overwhelming examples of the continuing existence of abject poverty.
Within a fifteen mile radius you can visit Aston Martin and Lamborghini dealerships, look out at Table Mountain with Rhodes’ superb Arboretum/Botanical Gardens featuring this 6th Plant Kingdom at its base, enjoy gorgeous beaches with miles of esplanades and suffer over the segregated settlements with two million shanty homes made of corrugated aluminum serviced only by portable plumbing and on again-off again electricity. The juxtaposition is even more shocking since the wealth is so established, so abundant and segregation and poverty so pervasive, up front and in sight.
Capetown is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever experienced. The views of Table Mountain, the vineyards of Stellenboch and especially the Peninsula Drive to the Cape of Good Hope are etched in my memory forever.
The Drive provided one spectacular view after another of shimmering blue green water, white sand beaches interspersed with rocky shores, mountains that go down to the sea, plus ostriches on the roadside and penguins by the water.
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| Beach communities off of the Peninsula Drive |
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| Untouched beaches along Peninsula Drive |
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| Beach along Peninsula Drive |
Peninsula Drive is a combination of Route 1 and Napa in California, Monaco, Greece, Hawaii and just itself. We stopped for pictures at the Cape of Good Hope overlooking False Bay and two oceans. False Bay got its name because European sailing ships heading south to round the Cape of Good Hope and head north for home would hit the edge of False Bay and think they had reached the southwestern point of Africa. They would turn in only to be disappointed when they instead reached the land at the back of the bay. Cape of Good Hope marks the meeting point of two oceans-- the Atlantic and the Indian.
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| Ostriches on the way to the Cape of Good Hope |
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| South African Penguins |
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| The Cape of Good Hope |
The feeling I had standing on the rocks looking out on two oceans from the Cape of Good Hope is impossible to describe.
While in Cape Town I also looked for and found interesting art and architecture.
There is a strong interest in all aspects of environmentalism and a lot of real work to prepare for as well as hold back climate change. Understandably, they have such beauty/natural resources to protect. I went to a wonderful art exhibition focusing on the threats to the environment called “Threshold” that could have been at the Tate Modern. The brilliant curator’s book also titled“Thresholds” is due out on November.
At the end of our stay in South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu came to the ship. We had a chance to actually talk one on one. I was more than honored to shake this charismatic leader’s hand. He has spent time with the SAS program and actually taught a semester course on another voyage.
Tutu's lectures this time addressed the current problems in South Africa and the world. We were so lucky to have experienced his teaching, his good humor and his powerful messages.
“Dream God’s dream,” was Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s message to the students aboard the M.V. Explorer. “Dream God’s Dream,” he said, “remain idealistic and keep believing that change is possible.”
It is now 17 years since apartheid but the political and social reforms have not wiped out the problems. Currently the issues are still abject poverty and segregation as most of the blacks in Cape Town cannot afford the cost of living in that cosmopolitan city ---and the cost of living has nowhere to go but up.
We found dinner and tourist items about the same price in Cape Town as they are in Minneapolis. Prime real estate along the coastline in exquisite areas with secluded beaches costs millions. Inland, the wine country of Stellenboch -- the best ‘terroire'- is also beautiful very much like Napa and, there again, the investment in real estate is significant.
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| The vineyars of Stellenboch ---the best terroire! |
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| The Botanical Garden in Cape Town |
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| The Botanical Garden exhibits the 6th Plant Kingdom |
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| Clivia in the Botanical Garden |
Under apartheid, the law required that people be separated by race into different residential communities. Although apartheid officially ended in 1994, the segregated residential pattern is still in place with most of the poor black population living in Townships which account for well over half of the city’s population of four million.
Unemployment in some of these areas is over 40%, and an influx of immigrants from other African countries is exacerbating this problem. South Africa has the second-highest number of HIV/Aids patients in the world - about one in seven of its citizens-- and the income gap between rich and poor is among the highest in the world.
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| The Township |
Many homes in affluent white neighborhoods are hidden behind high walls topped with razor wire and posted with security.
Overcoming apartheid in the last 17 years might have been possible if the population in the Townships had not mushroomed. But today many blacks are also fleeing Zimbabwe and other countries north of South Africa in hopes of a better life in in the South. Flooding the already crowded Townships, these illegal immigrants are creating competition for scarce employment and housing and causing growing discontent and crime. With issues of xenophobia now on the front burner, black South Africa is still pushing for political and social reform but the ANC is currently criticized for widespread corruption and lack of effective leadership in the face of these mounting problems.
So the next five years will be critical ones for South Africa’s transition to a first world economy.
In the midst of all of this, I was struck by the closeness of the black culture within these Townships and its parochialism. Many blacks have elected to stay put surrounded by abject poverty even though they have made it. While there is this strong sense of identity among these Capetowners, at the same time, they seem to lack the strength and the self confidence of Ghanian blacks who are similarly burdened with issues of poverty. Maybe this is because the South Africans were enslaved for so long in their homeland. It is a problem.
Within the Townships along with their strong sense of community is a clearly a self - contained set of rules and regulations for life. If there is crime within these communities, the Township leaders deliver the punishment. In fact, the Cape Town police seem to have no jurisdiction over these areas.....Unfortunately, poor education, the lack of good health care and adequate food, and the overwhelming sting of poverty are issues that cannot be solved solely within the confines of Townships.
South Africa’s government continues to shoulder major challenges and the white population seemly is less and less willing to carry the burgeoning financial load of black South African poverty. With Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and other charismatic reformers fading into memory, strong and honest leadership is not on the horizon.“Dream God’s dream,” Tutu said, and he did, and things changed. South Africa and the world need many more Desmond Tutus.
