By Ally Nylen
Thus far, we have been exposed to the waterfront, city, and surrounding townships of Cape Town. By traveling to different parts of Cape Town, the economic disparities of South Africa have become clearer to me. Much of the Venda Council research involved the banking system and distrust of banking as well as the government. Being in Cape Town has taught me about topics that we were not able to research from the United States. Actually seeing the variations in housing, business, and infrastructure overall has enhanced my learning about South Africa’s economy. Additionally, keeping up with the news and interacting with people that live here as well as being here as an academic tourist have opened my eyes to information that cannot necessarily be found on a database. We have learned that the country is faced with problems of unemployment and low wages from our first reading. For the economy as a whole to grow, these problems, among others, need to be addressed, but the government has done little to support those needing jobs or more money in order to support themselves and their family. While South Africa is a developed country and has a growing economy, there are huge regions and groups of people that are in a cycle of unemployment and poverty.
My experiences in the townships deepened my understanding of the economic standstill parts of the country are in. We visited one township called Langa and had a walking tour with a woman nicknamed Sugar. As we began the tour she explained the various businesses we saw within the neighborhoods. There were hairdressers, food places, small markets, and more set up in informal structures in the township. Sugar told us that the government encouraged entrepreneurship in the communities to address the economic problems in the townships. The lack of government involvement leaves the residents of the township to create informal businesses. The only business that needs a license are those that involve liquor, otherwise all of the businesses do not have licensing. This allows for entrepreneurs to start up a business more easily in the township, but ultimately seems to reinforce the economic disparities. Without proper licensing and not having to pay rent within the township, the businesses are faced with these obstacles when looking at moving out of that area. Thus, the majority of informal business owners are confined within the township because of licensing and financing reasons.
With that being said, even with these barriers, the people of Langa are sustaining themselves through independent work. During our visit we went into the cultural center and spoke to several of the artists and entrepreneurs. Some of them are part of a program that has been implemented and others were independent artists. Two of the programs were ceramic paintings, such as mugs, vases, and bowls and creating mosaics. The government has little support in these projects, paying only for electricity. The programs really sustain themselves by giving part of the profits to the artist and then putting the rest of the money back into the project to pay for things like the kiln. There is more structure for these programs than I saw in the informal businesses on the streets of Langa.
One example of an independent success story was the man who created sand paintings. His name was Odon and he is originally from Angola. Odon came to Cape Town with only 50 rand and said that did not last him the first day. He found a few pieces of paper and painted on them, selling each one for 150 rand. Odon has been in Cape Town for 16 years now. He has a family, house, and car and has been supporting himself this whole time. His work is sold downstairs in the cultural center as well as can be made by special order. All of the artists heavily rely on tourists coming into Langa to boost the township economy, buying products such as those made by Odon. With this particular success story and after visiting the township, I question whether or not people living in the townships want the government to intervene. I wonder what the feelings toward the government are for most people, especially those who were violently uprooted. I question whether or not people would rather be independent and in the current economic situation or seek assistant from the government that has been so corrupt.
I have thought about the economic struggle in the country in relation to history. Mostly how people feel towards the government, such as how strong the resentment is and how much interaction the townships have had with the government at all. One night I was listening to part of the Jacob Zuma’s speech on television and he continued to mention the future of the economy in relation to education. The speech seemed redundant and without a plan. This brought me to think about the length of time people have been dealing with economic hardships and how much hope they still have for education and economic improvement. While informal business structures are up and running, I question how comfortable people are with that being the government’s idea for growth. The people of Langa have created employment by themselves with so many barriers against them. Is this the extent of economic empowerment the people of the townships will see? Or will there be infrastructure created to support the growth and economic status of the people?
