Seeking a place in the sun
EVEN before the advent of apartheid, white authorities were known for their patronising attitude towards the naming of townships they built for black residents. Thus, in 1927, the first residential area to be “developed” exclusively for Cape Town’s African community was named “Langa”, or “place of the sun”.
There was nothing sunny about it, when the first residents moved in. And as time passed, conditions became even worse.
Like so many other African townships, one of the most unpalatable features of Langa was its range of men-only hostels. Built during the 1950s, they served as a blueprint for the National Party’s policy of not allowing wives, partners and children to live with migrant husbands, partners and fathers in white and coloured Cape Town.
The message of the apartheid functionaries was: “Don’t get comfortable”. And so, over time, these living quarters, big enough to sleep just two, began to resemble filthy hovels.
After the defeat of apartheid, when residents started looking forward to an improvement in their living conditions, the little change that took placed occurred at an unbelievably slow pace.
It has, for instance, taken the City more than a decade to convert some of Langa’s men-only hostels into family residential units.
But many residents continue to live in the same tiny, squalid “cells” that were built more than halfa-century ago.
On Monday, the “gatvol” factor kicked in, Hostel dwellers and supporters took to the streets, lighting fires, hurling stones and demanding an improvement in their living conditions.
As the authorities battled to bring the unrest under control, we spoke to some of the disgruntled residents. Mildred Nqabeni, 67, moved into a hostel at the age of 20. Forty-seven years later, she is still living there with a daughter and several grandchildren. The City’s human settlements Mayco member, Benedicta van Minnen, condemned the action of protesters and told increasingly impatient residents to wait their turn.
We have a simple question for Van Minnen and, for that matter, for the executive mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille: Why must the poor, who sacrificed so much during the worst years of apartheid, have to wait so long for a proper place in the sun?