High security as Sussexes pay visit to crime-plagued township
THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex begin their tour of South Africa today in one of the country’s most notorious townships as Buckingham Palace admitted the presence of their baby son, Archie, would make “things more lively”.
Specialist British police have spent months scouting the township in Cape Town to ensure the safety of the Duke and Duchess.
Its location cannot be disclosed until today for fear of jeopardising the royal visit to a children’s centre.
The Sussexes have spurned the usual airport photo opportunities, and will instead make the township their first public appearance of the 10-day tour. The “notorious” township has one of the highest murder rates in a country plagued by violence.
Diplomatic sources said British close protection police had been working with South African counterparts for
several months to ensure the family’s security.
Cape Town’s sprawling shanty towns, which stretch along the notorious Cape Flats, are so dangerous that in July 1,300 South African soldiers had to be deployed in an attempt to keep the peace among warring gangs.
Latest official figures show murders in the Western Cape, which includes Cape Town, rose to nearly 4,000 in the year up to April.
The decision to go to the township – having first dropped off Archie at an undisclosed residence following an 11-hour commercial flight – signifies the Sussexes’ determination to be taken seriously. The workshop they will visit teaches children self-defence and provides “female empowerment training to young girls”.
Buckingham Palace acknowledged the difficulties of organising an intrepid tour that takes in four countries in 10 days.
The Duchess and Archie will remain in South Africa while the Duke flies to Botswana, Angola and Malawi before rejoining his wife in Johannesburg at the end of the trip.
Factoring in Archie has added to the complications, the Palace admitted yesterday. A spokesman said: “We have an extra special small passenger to make things more lively.”
Archie is expected to feature at some point in the tour, but Royal watchers may have to wait until day three when the Duchess visits the mothers2mothers charity, which trains and employs women with HIV.
Archie’s cast-off clothes are expected to be donated to the Cape Town charity. It would be the ideal opportunity for Archie to make his presence felt on the tour.
He will be looked after by a nanny when the Duke and Duchess are on official duties.
On the first day, the Duke and Duchess will also visit the District Six Museum, which powerfully highlights the injustices of the apartheid era. There, the Duke and Duchess will “join a community cooking activity to showcase… the cultural diversity of the area”.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will visit a second township when they travel to Johannesburg at the end of the tour, where they will meet “inspiring local youth entrepreneurs”.
Again the location has been kept a secret, but sources have indicated that it will not be Soweto, the largest and best known of all South Africa’s townships.
Alexandra township in the heart of Johannesburg and adjacent to its wealthiest suburb was recently put in lockdown after riots in which businesses owned by Nigerians and other “foreigners” were burnt down.