Langa Gospel Tour

When you think Cape Town Tourism Photos, a few sights immediately spring to mind – Table Mountain, Cape Point, the Winelands and even Robben Island.  But on this very special Township tour we got to document another side of Cape Town, a lesser discovered side, but certainly a sector of our tourism industry that is growing in popularity and number.

We met Khonaye from Camissa Travel and Marketing when we recently attended the Cape Town Chapter of Travel Massive.  Khonaye was a guest speaker at this wonderful event.  His friendly smile and happy disposition spoke volumes not only of his own success story, but the success story of South Africa.  When he contacted us to assist him with some Cape Town Tourism photos for his website galleries, we were beyond excited!

We were met at the Cape Town tourism office by Zingisa where we boarded our minibus.  We were introduced to our driver and three Dutch visitors with whom we would be spending the morning.

The first part of our tour took us to District Six.  This was a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town.  During the 1970’s Apartheid regime, over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed. All of the homes were bulldozed. The only buildings left standing were places of worship.  After democracy in 1994 restitution claims were submitted, and the slow process of rebuilding the suburb has begun.

Next we travelled along the N2 highway to Langa.  Established in 1927, it is Cape Town’s oldest township.  Our first stop was at the Wesleyan Methodist Church were we attended a Gospel Service.  Spontaneous singing and dancing was the order of the day. Wow!  What an incredible energy to be in the presence of so many churchgoers so passionate about their religion.The next part of our trip took us on a walking tour through Langa.  Crossing over Mendi Street, and the Pass Law offices was a grim reminder of our past, yet at the same time a triumph as to how far we have come.

Zingisa took us on a gem of a walk through the township.  We got to meet the people of Langa, and had a tiny glimpse into their lives.  It was a gorgeous sunny day, so people were out and about doing their washing, polishing their cars, and having traditional braai’s on the side of the road.  The veggie markets and Spaza shops were stocked to the brim and children were playing old fashioned playground games like marbles and “Elastics.”  What a privilege it was to visit a ‘Gogo’ in one of the old traditional hostels which have now been converted into dwellings.

Camissa Travel and Marketing instills the philosophy of responsible tourism and couldn’t emphasize enough the importance of education amongst the youth.  We were struck by the immense sense of community amongst the people of Langa.  The openness and friendly way in which we were received was very special.

Thank you, Khonaye and Zingisa, for the incredible opportunity to grow our Cape Town Tourism Photo portfolio by documenting our morning in Langa for your company.  We’d love to go back and spend a little more time here!