Two Different Approaches to Township Tours

By Leon Hartwell
Political Sciences Department at the University of Pretoria
Mamelodi Project Public Relations Director, South Africa

 

 

Before I became involved with the Mamelodi Project I took one of my friends – Dr. Mike Wolf – on a township tour through Mamelodi.    It was not until after the months of filming, interviewing, and building relationships with several Mamelodi oganizations that I realised how biased I was when I took Dr. Wolf on the township tour and what the implications of this might be.  What I know now is that there are different approaches with different results on how to give a township tour. One approach that promotes the worldwide negative stereotype of the African continent, and one approach that highlights the positive developments taking place within the township.

 

The first approach – let us call it the ‘Wolf approach’ – is to drive around a township with a foreigner (or even a local who is not familiar with the township’s dynamics) and to show him/her how poor the people are.  It is a simple approach, one that does not require a lot of hard evidence, all you need is right in front of you:  poorly dressed individuals, dilapidated buildings, and an informal economy that might often be appalling to the foreign eye.  As a result, the outsider’s perspective might be reinforced:  Africa is poor, backward and only good for the occasional game drive. 

 

Of course, a more balanced picture of the township can only be gained if the foreigner asks the right questions. ‘What type of developments have taken place in the township over the past ten years?’  ‘Are there any development programmes in the township?’  The tour guide should also be able to answer these questions or else the foreigner will still be left with a skewed perspective about the township.  Finally, the foreigner will take pictures of the township’s surroundings (which is often the case), and when he/she shows it to family members and friends their own biases about the continent will also be reinforced.  In short, the Wolf approach does not do justice to our people and their surroundings; they continue to have negative views about rural areas and tend to misunderstand (or even not know of) local initiatives. 

 

These are some of the pictures that I have taken (also on my first experience) when I took Dr Wolf on a trip through Mamelodi: 

 

  

Wolf Approach: housing in Mamelodi

 

   Wolf Approach: Township scene 1

    

Wolf Approach: Township scene 2

 

If it is true that pictures are worth a thousand words then these will certainly reinforce the negative view about our people and the continent.  What is the alternative?  How can we challenge Western discourses via township tourism?  How can we show foreigners (and unaware locals) that there is more significance in the township than the eye can see? 

 

Before I elaborate on the second approach – the ‘Toole approach’ – in answer to the above questions, I want to contextualise how I realised how wrong I was about the township.  One of the underlying aims of The Mamelodi Project is to focus on positive aspects (such as development programmes and organisations) in the township as a representation of Africa.  The reason being that the African continent is predominantly (with very few exceptions) portrayed in a negative light in Western Media.  After filming, interviewing, and interacting with the Mamelodi community during the making of the Documentary I have looked in retrospect at the pictures that I took during my first trip (the ones where Dr. Wolf accompanied me) through the township.  Then it struck me; “I have been guilty of the exact same biases that I am trying to defeat.” 

 

To come back to the question posed earlier – of whether there is an alternative to the Wolf approach – I can honestly say that there is:  the ‘Toole approach’.  Fortunately I had the opportunity to take a number of other foreigners to the township, but this time I had greater knowledge of how township dynamics work:  there is a fine line between poverty and hardship on the one hand, and development and local initiatives on the other.  Where there is poverty, there are people behind the scenes discussing and implementing projects to combat this.  Where there are dilapidated buildings, there are new ones being erected to uplift the circumstances. 

 

Dr James Toole is also one of many guests that I was able to take on a tour through Mamelodi.  Armed with ‘new’ knowledge and a host of relationships with some of the development organisations I was able to show (and more importantly explain) to him the best of both worlds.  We visited some of the organisations that we have filmed for the Documentary and I have introduced him to the locals that are actively participating in constructing a better future for all. 

 

This is what Dr Toole had to say about the township: 

 

“My visit to Mamelodi was the highlight of my stay in South Africa. What I expected to see was hardship, but what Leon was able to show me was the vibrancy of the place. Life is undeniably hard for many, but there also is an energy and hope that one would never know merely by driving past the township. By meeting community leaders and organisers at a hospice, an orphanage, an arts center, and an environmental center, I was able to see not only challenges but also real advances in the quality of people’s lives. When we hear at all about development in the global North, we tend to hear more about obstacles and failures than about successes. Visiting Mamelodi in the way that I did allowed me to observe, first-hand, the kinds of achievements that committed and resourceful people are able to make on a daily basis in spite of the difficulties they face”.

 

The pictures that I have taken are also vastly different from the ones that I took upon my first township tour, not because these aspects of Mamelodi were never there, but simply because I did not know they existed. 

 

Dr. Toole playing a local game

 

         

Dr. Toole chatting with Obed, a resident artist at the Mamelodi Arts Centre   

 

      

Dr. Toole taking on the infamous ’spatla’ (a favorite meal among students in Mamelodi)

 

I hope that the contrast between the two approaches will make locals aware of the implications of township tours and that they will do their utmost best to take the Toole approach.  It does not help to attack the media and donors for misrepresenting Africa if we are guilty of providing them with first hand experiences that are largely negative.