South Africa is extremely rich in diverse cultures, and I’ve luckily had the experience of living among Zulu people during my homestay in a township called Cato Manor. While simultaneously learning the language, it was amazing to experience the locals’ shock and joy when we could respond to them in the Zulu language.
I think one of the initially shocking things was being able to clearly see the impacts of apartheid while living in Durban. Before coming to South Africa, I had done research to better understand how apartheid has shaped contemporary South Africa, but it wasn’t until I came here that I saw how present it was in South African society. During apartheid, there were forced removals of Black and Colored communities and forced them to live in designated areas known as townships. To this day, these townships are where many Colored and Black South Africans live, and they still have trouble accessing services that should be readily available. In this program, we lived with a host family in Cato Manor, and we got to learn what it was like living in a product of apartheid. This was extremely shocking to me because South Africa is known to have one of the most progressive Constitutions that ensures equality for all, however, the implementation is clearly lacking as there are still many racial groups living in poverty because of colonization and apartheid.
While living in Cato Manor, we would take Ubers to and from class, and our drivers would look completely shocked as we were getting picked up or dropped off from Cato Manor because of the stigma and stereotype. It is stereotyped that townships are riddled with crime and violence when, in reality, this was the safest place I have lived during this program. My classmates and I couldn’t help but laugh when other locals questioned our safety while living there because they were so naïve about the amazing culture and love that Cato Manor had to offer. It was frustrating knowing that our families in Cato Manor were living in these conditions because of apartheid and that there was still current judgment surrounding Cato Manor. However, there was extreme comfort in knowing that regardless of that, our Cato Manor families welcomed us with open arms and love, and they showed us extreme amounts of generosity when they arguably have less than others. I’m so grateful that my cultural confrontation has allowed me to be open-minded and thoughtful as I’m navigating my journey in South Africa.