Visitors to South Africa can enjoy a wide variety of tours and safaris – viewing everything from whales to the Big Five, touring wine farms and engaging in a spectacular range of adventure, sport and leisure activities.Something that is unique to the country however is the emergence of the ‘Township Tour’. Townships are the informal settlement residential areas of South Africa which developed over the apartheid era. Since the dawn of democracy in 1994 township tourism has grown as locals and visitors alike began to flock to these previously ‘no-go’ areas (at least for ‘whites’) to see how the other half live.
In fact the majority of township tourists are foreigners as locals have grown up with a fear of entering the settlements – a deep-rooted fear that has been hard to overcome.
Today Township Tourism is massive – a multi-million rand business which saw close on 320 000 foreigners pouring into settlements throughout the country last year. According to Cape Town’s tourist office more than 80 percent of its 250 licensed tour operators offer these “cultural experiences.”
So what can one expect to see and experience when embarking on a township tour in Soweto, Johannesburg or Langa, Cape Town?
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