I have arrived safe and sound in South Africa this time round without any missed flights or lost luggage oh and minus my fellow fellow Mr. Brady. However, as much as no one could ever fill Sean's shoes I luckily had another fellow willing to take his place for a few days and WOW what an Activist she is. Introducing Phumi Mtetwa....
The kids in the photo live in Khayelitsha township with 1 million other people. It's about 40 miles outside Capetown city, where the mostly white and some 'new black elite' people live. We had a great laugh with them today when we walked round the tin shacks they call home.
What a way to begin a Wednesday morning with three of the most inspirational women i have ever came across in my 28 years of being-Myrtle, Cindy and Gloria. These are three of the ladies who work for SADSAWU the Domestic Workers Union we visited on Saturday. Myrtle (the General secretary) was some character and as she spoke I couldn't help but think to myself I am sitting in front of another Inez and believe me I didn't think there could be two!
This is all a day behind because we have been super busy (no complaints mind you) meeting amazing activists who are doing amazing work across the the western Cape and beyond.
Today we had a tour of Langa, one of the many townships established under the Urban Area's Act in 1921. This particular township was established in 1927 prior to the Apartheid era and was designated for black Africans.
Today was spent with colleagues from Ndifuna Ukwazi, Tyrone and Disha, and the residents of Bromwell Street in the Woodstock area of the city. The area is gentrifying rapidly resulting in these residents, all 49 of them, having their homes sold out from under them. The oldest is 'Auntie Brenda'. At 75 years of age she has lived in Bromwell Street all her life and is now being told that in a months time she will be evicted and homeless.
So, we arrived in Capetown last night after an epic 28 hour journey. For libel purposes we won't mention the hassle a certain airline gave us by losing our bags somewhere over the Sahara desert. No, British Airways wouldn't like that. Oops. Onwards.
There is a lot going on and we will meet with many people over the next few days who are in the heart of campaigns for health, housing, education and more.