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Despite their origins in
apartheid South Africa, today the
terms township, location and
informal settlement are not used
pejoratively.
Most towns and cities will have
at least one township associated
with them. Today they are often
viewed as just one of the many
suburbs that an urban area might
have.
Tourists should not be misled by
what at first they might think is a
dirty conurbation. Whilst the
majority of township residents are
poor, the cleanliness of their homes
is often immaculate.
When you see hundreds of finely
dressed African workers and shoppers
in the town centres, tourists are
often surprised to find that the
vast majority still live in the
townships.
Township
In South Africa, the term
"township" usually refers to the
(often underdeveloped) urban
residential areas that, during
Apartheid, were reserved for
non-whites (primarily
Africans and Coloureds) who
lived near or worked in areas that
were designated "white-only". Soweto
(actually a group of townships
called SOuth WEst TOwnships) and
Alexandra are two of the most
well-known of these.
Other well-known townships include
Atteridgeville, Bekkersdal,
Boipatong, Bophelong, Botleng,
Chatsworth, Daveyton, Diepmeadow,
Dobsonville, Duduza, Evaton,
Galeshewe, Guguletu, Hammanskraal,
Impumelelo, Kagiso, Katlehong,
Khayelitsha, Khutsong, KwaThema,
Laudium, Lenasia, Langa, Mamelodi,
Mdantsane, Mitchell's Plain,
Mohlakeng, Munsieville, Orange Farm,
Ratanda, Refilwe, Reiger Park,
Sebokeng, Sharpeville, Soshanguve,
Soweto, Tembisa, Thokoza, Tsakane,
Vosloorus, Wattville and Zithobeni,
amongst others.
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During the apartheid era non-whites were
usually evicted from land and properties
that were in areas designated as "white
only" and forced to move into townships.
Legislation that enabled the Apartheid
government to do this included the Group
Areas Act. Africans and coloured typically
lived in separate townships or locations.
Although formal racial segregation ended
with Apartheid in 1994, many townships have
seen rapid development, with wealthy and
middle-income areas growing up in parts of
Soweto, for example.
Location
Townships for non-whites were also
called locations or lokasie (Afrikaans
translation). They are often still referred
to by that name, particularly in smaller
towns.
The term "Kasie", a popular short
version of "Lokasie" is also used sometimes
to refer to locations and townships.
Informal Settlement
Townships sometimes have large informal
settlements nearby.
These shanty towns are areas of
irregular, low-cost dwellings, usually on
lands belonging to third parties, and most
often located in the periphery of formal
townships.
The dwellings are often assembled in a
patchwork fashion from pieces of plywood,
corrugated metal, sheets of plastic, and any
other material that will provide cover.
Informal settlements are almost always
built without a license. They pose a fire
hazard and are remarkable by their near
total absence of numbered streets,
sanitation networks, electricity, or
telephones, and even if they do possess such
necessities, they are likely to be
disorganized, old or inferior.
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