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Even the area’s more wealthy residents remain in the township. They live in ‘Beverly Hills’; a street of solid brick houses with metal gated yards only metres from the shacks of Joe Slovo and the overcrowded hostels of Langa. These residents are a decent salary away from shack and hostel life that is reduced to one family, one room, one bed. We asked our guide Thandis if he lived in Beverly Hils and he laughed saying “One day I hope to. First I must put two of my brothers through school then university. After that I will move to Beverly Hills.”
We saw another side of Langa life down a dirty alley known for its shabeens (illegal drinking dens). Daily membership of Mum Qwathi’s shabeen only costs R5 for all you can drink. Enamel jugs froth at the brim with umqombothi beer brewed from maize and sorghum. The jug gets passed around from mouth to mouth and it was obvious some participants had imbibed more than their 5 Rand’s worth.
Unaccustomed to the dark surroundings, we sat quietly and sipped the muddy beer cautiously. But the locals were having none of our reticence and decided we should sing, dance and drink some more. So we clapped and danced clumsily in the pursuit of fun and the spirit of ubuntu. The word Ubuntu encompasses a whole philosophy of morality and humaneness, communal responsibility and solidarity.
Sitting on the rickety benches in the soot-filled room, getting to know the locals, we felt a kind of unfamiliar heart-warming camaraderie. Rich rubbed shoulders with poor in an atmosphere of mutual respect and shared curiosity. Strangely, we didn’t want to leave; we were just getting the hang of township life. The hotels of Cape Town full of visitors on their South African holidays and the hostels of Langa seemed worlds apart, rather than 15 minutes drive away, but we learned some lessons that day in the streets of Langa and the shacks of Joe Slovo. We learned that dignity survives poverty. Nombasa and Patricia epitomised this and we left Langa township with the spirit of ubuntu firmly in our hearts. The author went on a Grassroutes Township Tour with African Eagle, guided by Thandisile Qubazi.
© Copyright Carrie Hampton - carrieh@iafrica.com, www.travelwriter.co.za | 
