Township Development

The past couple of weeks I have been very interested in how the townships could improve.

I had an on, engaging conversation with one of my colleagues last week about his thoughts on the situation.

We talked about townships and if they will ever improve. He gave me a brief history of government housing and how the government had been giving houses to people in locations even during apartheid. So, when people say that the new government is making new, better changes and helping out the poor more than the previous regime that is actually incorrect. 

I asked him if he were responsible for changing the outcome of his own community what would he do? 

"The number one problem in my community is violence. One way to stop violence is by making sure all roads are paved and well lit. I do not feel comfortable walking after 6pm in my own community because the chance of being robbed is very high. I would say that only thirty percent of people actually and make enough money to sustain themselves. Seventy percent are dependent on the government, are taken care of by the other thirty percent, or choose to rob to survive. This number must change if my community is to grow."

As we were talking, we passed by a new mall that had just been built right next to his community. He said that the mall will offer a lot of jobs to the people of the community and will definitely be an improvement. However, the mall is built right next to the highway and a lot of customers live on the opposite side of the highway. The only way to get to the mall is to cross the highway which is very dangerous. He said that crosswalks need to be made in order to ensure safety for pedestrians, but that has not been done and was not considered when the mall was built.

Although he does not have high hopes for much change of violence, poverty, and higher employment in his community in his lifetime, he still has good ideas of how things could change. He says that it all starts from the top. Those who have the ability to make a change need to have a deeper understanding of where the problem lie and how to make sure that the community is not dependent on the government, but can work alongside it.

Another topic of discussion that we dove into was the issue of savings and his children. He is clever enough to know that his position with GRS is not always guaranteed and has a sharp eye for the future. Every month he makes sure to put a large portion of his paycheck into savings, because if he were to lose work with GRS, it could take upwards to a year or two to find another position as highly successful as the one he carries now.

He also said that he has high hopes for his children and wants to make sure that they have the best possible education. He would love for his daughter to attend an all-girls high school and for his son to attend Grey high school, the most prestigious school in all of Port Elizabeth. Both schools are private and very expensive, so it will be very interesting to see if he will be able to afford funding his kids to attend private school.

His story is a prime example of someone coming from tough circumstances and trying to bring his family out of poverty to a better, more successful life, however at the same time not neglect the family, neighbors, and community that he loves. 

If you are interested in ways that different organizations are making a difference in townships specifically check out these links:

http://www.urbanlandmark.org.za/research/x51.php

http://www.urbanlandmark.org.za/downloads/retail_centres_township_dev_2011.pdf

http://www.urbanlandmark.org.za/downloads/retail_in_townships_2011_02.pdf