The townships success stories challenge its image as a place of unemployment and crime,but reveal a growing divide between wealthy and destitute in post-apartheid South AfricaThe SMS you will get whether you drive through the South-Western Townships, also known as Soweto, or is as certain as death and taxes. The message – and sometimes a phone call from your car tracking company will notify you that you are now in a “high-risk area”.
This is the side of Soweto most people have come to expect: a place with destitute infrastructure,high unemployment and crime. In areas such as Jabavu, the employment rate sits at just 34%. The median monthly income for those who work in the area is R2400 (118). Yet a few kilometres absent from some of the township’s poorest parts lie Diepkloof Extension and Pimville, or domestic to Soweto’s richest. contemporary luxurious homes (many valued at well over R1m),German cars parked in their garages, sit behind high walls – reminiscent of Johannesburg’s traditionally white suburbia.
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Source: theguardian.com