From the Ghettos of South Africa
From 03 March to 08 April 2008, I visited Malawi & South Africa as an African JAG member for support activity & research. On this chapter, I would like to give you some latest reports on South African ghettos.
Aiming for the 2010 World Cup, stadiums & subways are being constructed every where in the country of South Africa. It was also the period of the annual “JAZZ Festival” in Cape Town, so the place was filled with tourists from all over the world.
In current South Africa, places such as city central and hotels/villas in tourist areas have nice buildings that you can’t imagine you’re in Africa, and have restaurants where you could eat cuisines just like in any advanced countries. They have Japanese restaurants too, and the dishes they serve are quite nice. Although restaurants are all very expensive, a light drink & dinner for 3 people could easily exceed $100. It’s obviously not something that ordinary families in this country could afford. I asked what the average salary is for working class people in Johannesburg, and found out it’s about US$400-US$500 per month, for people living in the ghettos, around US$200. When it comes to those who live in slums, salary becomes even lower, around US$100 per month.Still, the figures are very high compared to other African countries, but the living costs are high too, so people’s state of living is pretty much the same. At any rate, the bipolarization of South African lives is rapidly progressing. On this visit, I was able to step into the ghettos & slums, and see people’s lives & latest state of the areas.
Soweto/Street Live
Until a few years ago, Soweto was said to be the most dangerous area in Africa. The place was said to be filled with burglary, murder & guns, it used to be one of the areas that should not be visited after dusk.
I caught news that there will be a street live happening in Soweto. Couldn’t keep still, and decided to go there. 5pm, the whole place gradually started to fade into the darkness of the night.Passing through the residential streets brought us to an area with a touch of dangerous smell in the air. Only a few people were out on the streets, gave me a thrill. Moving further down the street brought us to a vacant lot, a few young boys were hanging around. “This is it!!” I just felt it in my bones.
From the vacant lot, we walked into the backstreet. Shady backstreet. Unpaved street. Towards the middle of that street stood a simple tent & a stage. It was indeed the place for the street live I was looking for. Naughty-looking local boys gathered around. White or colored people were nowhere to be seen. Smell of weed became stronger & stronger as I walked on. I went straight up to the tent. Everyone’s attention was on us. But no need for sweat. Inside the tent was a young DJ who organized this street live. I introduced myself, explaining my profession & the JAG Project, and asked him if we could film the event & interview the people there.He accepted our offer with a smile. Until the MC stepped up to announce the commencement of the show, we interviewed countless young kids that came to see the show.
“We have changed. With our own efforts. Before, there were lots of gangsters in this town. It’s not that they’re gone now, there are gangsters still. But those with guns are gone now. We don’t need any government police here. Our own community police is enough to look over the whole place now. We have music. Throw away guns & hold mics instead!! That’s it. Soweto is the best!!” …I was touched. Young kids being able to say their town to be the best with real pride. Their eyes all shined bright with confidence & hope. A sense I had been forgetting for quite a while…reminded me of where I originally started from. As the clock ticked past 6pm, the whole place was already dark. At the booth inside the tent, a DJ dropped the needle onto the first tune.
The equipments they had weren’t the latest technology, they were old models that probably no one in Japan would use for a show. Speakers as well as all the mics are inexpensive models. No lightings. But they didn’t care. Before we know, the stage was surrounded by several hundreds of people.An MC grabbed the mic. Roaring applause from the crowd. Excitement filled the whole place. MCs changed & took turns one after the other. Crowd listened to their lyrics carefully. They listen, and respond to the lyrics. Each people in the crowd respond in his/her own ways. Whether the person on stage is famous or not doesn’t matter. They receive & face the messages of their homies in truly serious manner.
You could see they are trying to change their future with their own hands.“Throw away guns & hold the mics!!” Messages from the streets are real.
Cape Town / Ghetto & Slum
As you drive out of the Cape Town airport & turn left, a huge slum-looking area appears in front of you, which goes on for miles. This is the area called by various names such as Nyanga, Langa, Guguletu, etc…, a ghetto where thousands of people dwell. Although most of them live in slums, in poorly built houses made of zinc. The lowest financial class people.
This area is also said to have become safer than before, but nevertheless, tons of gangsters dwell, and 30% of them carry guns with them. It is also said to be filled with drugs.And that most of the drugs that exist in this area have came in from overseas after Apartheid ended. Heroine, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, and the one that’s causing mst problems right now is the drug called TIC (locally made in South Africa) that’s also reaching the hands of 11 year-old kids.
It is said that when you take that drug, you could easily kill people. Kids take the drug, drink alcohol, and have sex. Obviously without any condoms, and due to such situation, the number of kids being infected by HIV/AIDS is rapidly increasing. TIC costs 30 rands per dose, which is about 400yen. Easy to get. And is causing a huge problem in South Africa right now. Nyanga There is an unbelievable number of police cars here. Not an ordinary police car, they are mini-vans with iron net covering all windows & 5-6 policemen riding inside. As we drive into the area, one of them came immediately from behind & stopped us. “This area is extremely dangerous so be extra careful!!” A warning from them. Neither the white nor colored people was seen in this area either. Sure enough, when you go one road off of the main street, eyes of the people glare sharply.
But when you smile at them, every one of them smiles back at you, even welcome you with thumbs up. Nevertheless, I wasn’t able to step out of the care just by myself. Point is, to feel the air of where you are. Guguletu TEBA, who is a ragamuffin DJ (MC) & also a social worker, took us around the area. He is originally from Guguletu. He told us how difficult it was back when he used to live in this ghetto. Those that cannot receive proper education turn into gangsters in the ghetto. People dying from drug overdose.
The post-Apartheid government promised them free education (education for free). But the promise hasn’t been kept for 14 years now. Parents living in the ghetto work so hard to make money so that the kids could go to school & have a hopeful future instead of becoming gangsters. But such isn’t any easy thing to do in the ghettos.
In Guguletu, we also visited a local rapper, Crosby’s house as well. He has such a strong thoughts for a young man of 26, and enthusiastically told us about various problems that exist in South Africa. (We will be putting up our interview with Crosby on African JAG’s official website soon, so please check it as well!!)Crosby then took us to a Rasta community in Nyanga. The minute we enter the community area, again, police came from behind & stopped us. They might have thought that we were being kidnapped by Crosby or something…5 policemen walk right up to our car with furious faces.
As soon as I told them that Crosby is our friend, their faces turned into smiles, told us not to stay in this area for too long, and walked back into their car. What a place, I mean, is this place such a dangerous place…? The police patrolled close by us until we left the community. What we did there was talk about music & play with children there, and to be honest, everyone I met there were actually all so peaceful people….
People’s everyday lives in the slums aren’t easy. The zinc houses they live in become deadly cold in the winter. A lot of you may think everywhere in Africa is hot all year, but countries like South Africa is located right above South Pole, so it gets extremely cold from April til end of August. Upon my last visit to South Africa, which was in July, the temperature was -1℃.
Needless to say, houses in the slums don’t have any electricity. No way to warm themselves. In small houses, families stick together & sleep. When summer comes, the temperature raises up to 50℃. A lot of the children here cannot go to school because of the poverty. In Cape Town, slums like this exist next to one another in dozens of miles. They may need a little more time until they could actually change their situation like Soweto did.
We were able to achieve some extremely precious experiences on our visit this time. South Africa is currently meeting a period of a huge transition. How the transition would end up, I think, is really up to the positive intensions & efforts of young people there. The problems they have are mountain high. But the young generations in South Africa we saw were all facing up to move forward. I just pray that such positive potential, a pure energy, wouldn’t turn into “despair.” And last but not least, a huge thanks to them for reminding me of where I begun!!
African JAG Project／Noriko ASANO
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