Mthwakazi uMthwalo

A Peek At Township Life


These photos were taken in November 2011, while I was accompanying my father. We were driving through a township to the east of Johannesburg called Natalspruit. It was an incredibly beautiful warm day, with rain falling intermittently. You should look at the beautiful skies in these pictures.

It was incredibly exciting seeing children playing in the water and driving past other cars with loud  house music blasting. Here in South Afrika house music can be heard playing at almost every street corner. Township life is very vibrant and  the inhabitants (to me at least) appear to be incredibly relaxed.

It was inspiring driving through here and I was reminded again that Afrika is the joy of living. There's a different kind of energy here that I cant put to words and that cannot be felt anywhere other than in the townships.

Ladies wearing the Methodist church uniform



Pupils playing in rainwater. It had stopped raining a few minutes before. I sooo wanted to join them. They looked so excited and carefree- probably because the school holidays had just begun.

This little boy is too cute. Added this picture because it shows a hair salon. We Afrikans take pride in our hair. It is like a crown. The posters on the shop window just show different hairstyles you can have done.

You'll find little make shift shops like these all over the townships. One can purchase vegetables and different sweets and crisps. I'd say this is  an example of entrepeneurship and how individuals make ends meet.

Simphiwe Dana featuring Mthwakazi - iNkwenkwezi (Live)

Moving.

djexcess - STOMACH IN, CHEST OUT!

SA Policemen are not known for being fit. Reminds me of what General Bheki Cele the now suspended (on full pay) National Commissioner of the South African Police Service said: 'Stomach in chest out'. Absolutely love working out to the remix of his speech.

March for Economic Freedom

South Africa is a land of incredible extremes. There are wealthy people and there's the poor, who struggle to make ends meet. Because of this great divide, it appears as if quite a number of people are supporting the call, by the ANC Youth League to march from Johannesburg to Sandton.




A Union member stated that this march "is aimed at championing the policy positions of the poor and the working class."




People are still demanding basic services 17 years into our democracy.

17 years into this democracy I do believe that South Africa has progressed in many different ways, there is however much that still has to be done to uplift the poor. I find it very interesting though, that despite people being frustrated by the ANC, the party that led us into democracy in 1994 and the current ruling party, they still vote for them.

What shocked me the most today was seeing how young these individuals are.

There was a heavy police presence:
















Those individuals who were not marching were driving in their own cars. There were also minibuses and buses that were packed with protesters.







A man being pushed in a wheelchair. I was surprised to see even blind people who were being guided by others taking part.

Was also entertained to see hawkers selling ice cream and iced beverages to protesters. This was a good business opportunity.




I was incredibly impressed to see so many people taking part. They even encouraged us bystanders to join them. They stated that, they were not only marching for themselves but for us (the bystanders) and all of our children.





This was an incredibly peaceful march. The marchers even posed for pictures and the policemen and women were also joking around with me. These individuals feel like their voices have to be heard on multiple economic issues and workers rights.