Masiphumelele’s community spirit has helped stave off the xenophobia sweeping through the rest of SA, writes Zenzile Khoisan.
Cape Town - As scenes of troops in townships again make headlines and a sense of siege takes hold in more than a few informal settlements, Masiphumelele, in the peninsula’s “Deep South” is pointing the way for community spirit.
Here, strong, grassroots-based leadership and embedded values have provided the essential elements for counteracting xenophobia and the violence that has wracked other parts of the country has found no countenance even though many of Masi’s 50 000-odd residents were born in foreign lands.
Even with the last of the afternoon sun fading, all the shops have their doors wide open and there is no sense of anxiety, either among locals or migrants who trade on the main thoroughfare and in the narrow streets that are a signature for settlements of this kind.
Set between the relative affluence of Noordhoek and Kommetjie, Masiphumelele’s first informal settlers erected dwellings on what was then an open piece of land in the late 1980s and 1990s, constantly fighting challenges by the apartheid authorities.
Since 1994, many people returned to the area and constructed dwellings on the land, then known as Site 5, eventually growing into a strong, fairly cohesive community that is now named Masiphumelele – Xhosa for the will to succeed.
In 2008 when the country was gripped by xenophobic violence, this community was proactive in addressing problems. Councillor Mzuvukile Nikelo says there is a deep-rooted understanding in the community that “Africans in the community know it is wrong to attack and kill other Africans”.
He said that in this township leaders continually engaged people, not just “during times of crisis, where solutions are coming from outside and imposed upon communities”. This worked well in 2008 when community leaders went door to door, retrieving goods stolen from migrant-owned shops.
One of the first people to set up home in the township was 73-year-old Regina Makhupula. Sprightly and industrious despite the passage of years, Makhupula has an upbeat, forward-looking attitude to life.
“I came to settle here from Khayelitsha 24 years ago, because I needed to build a more sustainable and dignified life for my children and myself, and I am still using my skills to build the better life I dreamed of,” she said.
She said she had seen the settlement grow from its difficult early beginnings, to a place where there was still a strong sense of values which set it apart and made it a space where “all are welcome, because we are living together well”.
She leads by example, selling the pillows and aprons she makes on the street, opposite other more formal shops, owned by locals and migrants.
“As you can see, I am selling what I make, and even though we have to borrow a sewing machine and struggle to pay for the material to make the pillows and the aprons, I still come out and sell these goods, even though I do not have a proper place to trade, because I believe one has to do something to build your life.”
In the early days she had a garden where she planted and harvested tomatoes, spinach, pumpkin and cabbages, but later she had to use the space to build lodgings for some of her six children. On the threats that have beset foreigners in other townships across the country, Makhupula feels Masi has set the bar higher, and come with organic solutions emerging from the community.
“As you can see here, there are many shops where people are selling things, and everyone is quite relaxed, because we are living well together and getting to understand one another more, and we, as the elders, always play our part in getting the youth to understand and respect other people living among us.”
Makhupula’s story finds resonance in Beauty Mlengwana, a younger woman who resides opposite her trading area. She supports efforts by the leaders in the community to firmly deal with anti-migrant sentiments. However, she says there are pressing matters to be addressed.
“The government needs to be more attentive to the needs of the elders, who are still living in shacks and we are specifically concerned about them now that winter is coming, because many of our elders are getting sick.”
Young people in Masiphumelele have also been directly involved with initiatives to build bridges in the township. Simphiwe Nkomambeni, of Hokisa, an organisation serving children and youth, said he was one of the youth leaders who were involved in ending xenophobic violence in 2008. While heralding the successes at combating xenophobia he nevertheless believes the migrant communities must do more “to come closer to the local people”.
“They can be very instrumental in assisting us with their business skills, and they also must come closer because when we call meetings there are very few of them attending. They must realise that we want to strengthen our bonds and we can learn much from each other,” Nkomambeni said.
A Somali trader from the Shabela cash store on the main road who gave his name as Ibrahim Abbass said he and his other countrymen were “in good spirits with all the people. We are getting 100 percent support from the people of this community” .
Weekend Argus