Pavel Prokopchik

Under Apartheid the term "township" came to mean a residential development which confined non-whites (blacks, coloreds and Indians) who lived near or worked in white-only communities. Photographs were made in several townships around Cape Town. The biggest township in Western cape is Khayelitsha, with population over 400 thousand people it's one of the biggest townships in South Africa. 90% of population are Black African most of them belong to Xhosa tribe. Khayelitsha spreads along the N2 highway on the way from the Airport to Cape Town center. Zink roofs and electricity polls with hundreds of wires running down from it is what people see when they pass by. That's about as much as most tourists or even people that have been living in South Africa for a long time get to see. High crime rates and rumors on how dangerous it is to go there scare people away. And when you see the metal bars on most windows and doors in the suburbs of Cape Town - you realize that it isn't a simple case of paranoia.  Without seeing the township life one doesn't get to see real South Africa. After all this is how the majority of the population in South Africa lives. Apartheid isn't exactly over and Mondella's rainbow nation utopia, where people of all colors share and live in harmony is still far away. People still refer to each other as black, colored and whites and they live in separate areas according to their race and color. Perhaps separation is not as strict and not legally prosecuted by the government as during the apartheid era, but it is still there. It would be a mistake to think that there are only 3 economical classes of people in South Africa. One realizes it as soon as he arrives into the township. Lower class isn't just lower class, but it's an upper-lower class, middle-lower class and lower-lower class. Life in a township is nice if not to take into account extreme poverty and high levels of crime. Township is a small village, where everybody knows their neighbors. Many people that actually make it, financially and are able to afford a good car and a house in one of the white or colored suburbs often choose to stay in the township, cause they consider it home and that's where all their friends and family live. My experience in South African township was overall pleasant. I met interesting and friendly people, who were ready to share their way of life and culture with me. It is definitely not recommended to go to the township by yourself especially if you are white, but there are guided tours which take tourists on tour around the township.