As we drove past the Diepkloof hostel, we noticed some people washing clothes at a communal tap, and decided to stop and take some photos because the light was just so perfect. One of the ladies then took us for a stroll through the hostel to show us her home. #
These hostels used to be men-only residences in the Apartheid era. They were built to house mostly migrant mine workers (mostly from Kwazulu Natal) – and no women were allowed to live there at all. The hostel now houses families.
This lady explained that there was no running water in the units, but there are a few communal taps scattered around the hostel. She said it was going to take her about 2 hours to do her washing. It was quite festive though, with all the ladies chatting around the tap; while kids came to fill buckets of water for their homes.
As we walked around the corner down the one “street”, there was loud music booming from the one door; and we got invited inside by a few guys drinking beer. Bear in mind, this was at 7am.
We walked into the shebeen and were greeted by this lady who was sitting on a pool table. It was very dark in there, and I forgot my external flash at home… so this is the best shot I got. Her eyes were just so sad to see. She couldn’t even stand up, she was so very plastered.
Our hostess took us into her home. I was actually surprised that the rooms were as big as they were. I thought they’d be smaller actually. The smell from the parafin stove was quite overwhelming though, so we didn’t stay for long.
It was quite funny walking around there, because the residents just assumed that we were overseas tourists; and some were quite disappointed that we were from Johannesburg. One guy asked me if we could put him in contact with a movie producer because he’d written a movie script. I felt quite sorry for him when I explained that we worked in banking in Jo’burg and couldn’t help.
Anyway, I think I’ve captured the essence of the place. It must have been a very scary place to live in the height of all the demonstrations and tensions before 1994. It’s a pity I didn’t get photos of the kids that were playing though, because it’s not as sad as what my photos are portraying.
As I mentioned in my post yesterday, all these Soweto posts are tagged, so the other entries will be easy to find just by clicking HERE.
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