It’s important to point out that informal traders meet a dire community need. (Photo: Izak de Vries)
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Food safety is crucial: that’s not part of the debate. The question to ask is how well the Department of Health is training people in food safety before raiding and closing stores – sometimes essential ones within the community.
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There exists a distinct separative line between southern Africa’s “suburbs” and its townships, even though only a single taxi trip usually splits one area from another. One side cannot accurately envision what life is like elsewhere, and unless you’ve lived in the township (or suburb), you might not know what it’s like.
Township living comes with a sharp and corroded edge, where the hustler with a brand new iPhone might share the same street with crack-addicted teenagers and their grandmother. However, are townships very different to the suburbs, where dodgy underworld figures are gunned down in parking lots, or where couples in Melkbosstrand are arrested for human trafficking?
There are good and bad sides to every neighbourhood, and a tale of two cities isn’t as simple as it seems. Here’s a look behind the curtain of living in a rural South African township.
On life and death in the suburbs and townships
The first difference between the suburbs and townships I’d like to point out is that corpses in the suburbs generally get driven away before the sun comes up. In the townships, a body found lying in the street attracts attention from the community before the police. First, a crowd gathers to find out who might have died and why. Emergency services will remove the body; however, this might only happen after 10:30 am.
Tomorrow, you might hear of a shooting down the road. “The man died. His girlfriend was taken to hospital.” Somehow, you get the feeling that this isn’t the type of discussion people have over their first coffee in the suburbs.
Simultaneously, there are also clear indications of life being lived. People enjoy precious time. Days are meant to be lived. Living in the township means that you’re generally surrounded by more friends than enemies. In the middle of the suburbs, while people are smiling, I also don’t ever feel sure about their kinship.
Spaza shopping: Education before closure
Spaza shops are the primary means of shopping if you’re living in a township, unless the budget covers regular trips to town – or, somehow, you can get mainstream delivery companies to drive that way. Most, if you’re wondering, refuse and claim that the road is too dangerous. The biting irony of this is that a huge chunk of delivery drivers commute from their inner-township homes on the same roads their employers won’t let them drive.
Spaza shops have come under fire for illnesses and deaths related to food safety. However, it’s important to point out that informal traders meet a dire community need. As a crucial piece in the Daily Maverick notes, people say they would “starve to death” without assistance from their local spaza shops.
Food safety is crucial: that’s not part of the debate. The question to ask is how well the Department of Health is training people in food safety before raiding and closing stores – sometimes essential ones within the community. There’s been a recent call from the ANC to close and subsequently reregister all informal spaza stores. Unfortunately, this might not solve the problem, when the elephant in the room is a lack of food safety training (and rogue food suppliers selling dangerous knock-off products to unsuspecting spaza shop owners). Spaza shops should be given access to reliable suppliers, and taught more about food safety. Without this, their registration on a database isn’t going to achieve anything.
“I don’t like the drugs, but ...”
Drugs are a notorious problem in South Africa’s townships, but the same could be said in the middle of almost any average suburb. The difference between suburbs and townships would be that people perhaps care less about hiding their addictions within the latter.
Nyaope is one of the worst ills. It is a frightful cocktail. The BBC recently described it as a “mixture of low-grade heroin, marijuana, cleaning detergents, rat poison and chlorine”. This is often combined with substances like crack cocaine, cat and tik (or methamphetamine). Living in close proximity in the townships, it’s easier to notice when one of the neighbourhood kids begins to lose weight and stay up all night. In the same way, people will inevitably notice if the normally quiet gogo begins to ramble after several drinks.
Studies point to the lower costs of alcohol and the higher density of booze sellers as part of the addiction problem in townships. In the suburbs, you’ll find that the same addictions exist, but it’s often easier for addicts to hide behind walls and burglar alarms.
Gambling: Equally easy on both sides of town
Addiction doesn’t just spring forth from drugs and alcohol, but also comes in the form of gambling and sports betting. Sports betting vouchers are sold everywhere you can buy airtime, and in some areas one might still see the occasional slot machine lighting up a corner of a store. Gamblers can also stumble upon informal card games, where bets are encouraged if you can find your way around “Cassino” (Sevens).
The only difference between suburbs and townships when it comes to gambling addictions might be whether you’re spending your money at a casino or with a betting agent. Underage gambling is considered on the rise, and unfortunately gambling is equally easy on both sides of town.
Cable theft: Snakes that steal
Power outages are frustrating in the suburbs and frustrating in the townships. Loadshedding is the first reason for outages, and cable thieves (called izinyoka or snakes) are the secondary reason why electricity might be there one moment and gone the next.
Cable thievery targets electricity and internet cables, while presenting a problem for law enforcement and communities. Cable thieves sometimes fatally electrocute themselves on the job – an unfortunate show of how desperate people can be for the return. It’s not a problem just in rural areas, but appears to be an international frustration: arrests related to cable theft have also happened in Anglia (UK) in 2024.
A brief note about toilets
The separative line between suburbs and townships is more apparent when considering this difference: most houses within suburbs contain the household toilet on the inside. The majority of rural township homes are reliant on pit toilets. Showers are considered an added luxury, and you’re particularly lucky if there’s an installed bath. It’s an inconvenience that goes largely unmentioned as people go about their day. However, that doesn’t mean it should be unnoticed, though it often is.
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Perhaps if the government paid enough attention to the townships, more houses and schools might have access to enough running water to reliably power the invention of the flushing system.
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There isn’t much you could say to describe a pit toilet, except to picture the Worst Toilet in London (Except Elsewhere). ? [Is this an upper-case-worthy name?] It should not be so. “Eco toilets” can be found in some exclusive tourist areas, like the lodges in the Kogelberg Nature Reserve. “Eco toilets”? Yup. Clean, fresh long-drops. And you pay per guest per night what most township dwellers can only dream of earning in a month.
The idea behind non-flushing toilets is not wrong. The lack of maintenance and safety is. According to a 2023 News24 report, more than 3 000 schools still rely on pit toilets – and likely thousands (upon thousands) of households do, too. These are not “eco toilets”. These are the horror type in which kids drown.
How much the government cares? (Photo: Izak de Vries)
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Perhaps the stark difference between township living and the suburbs lies in how much the government cares about what is happening to our excrement.
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Perhaps if the government paid enough attention to the townships, more houses and schools might have access to enough running water to reliably power the invention of the flushing system. Or there could be a better way to provide and, importantly, maintain cost-effective and safe non-flushing systems.
Again, the government now seems to be focusing on food safety by taking away township dwellers’ ability to obtain food! Huh? But why simply look at food safety, without putting much focus on basic sanitation?
Perhaps the stark difference between township living and the suburbs lies in how much the government cares about what is happening to our excrement. Is this a “sh*tty” thought? Well. Check where government is putting the toilet, and perhaps you will know exactly how much the government cares.
