White South Africans' move to black township draws praise and accusations

The Guardian ^ | Tuesday 3 September 2013 | David Smith

[MinorityRepublican]

April Matlala, who lost most of his home to a fire three years ago, got a big surprise when he saw who was moving into the shack next door. The new residents of Mamelodi, an impoverished township near Pretoria in South Africa, were young, middle-class and white.

"They wanted to experience a different culture from where they're living," reasoned Matlala, 44, pressing the neck of a beer bottle to his lips. "In South Africa we have about 11 cultures. If you don't experience all of them, you're not a real South African."

Julian and Ena Hewitt, both 34, and their daughters Julia, four, and Jessica, two, left their four-bedroom house, livestock and swimming pool in a gated community to move just seven miles (12km) down the road into a 3m x 3m (10ft x 10ft) shack with no electricity, a communal water tap and a pit toilet. They stayed there a month, living on 3,000 rand (£189), the average income of a black family, and blogged the experience.

[2banana]

Soon to come:

The documentary “The worst mistake of my life”

[Navy Patriot]

I’ll wait a while before I comment.

[Viennacon]

I am predicting a sudden death in the family

[2ndDivisionVet]

Can I buy life insurance for them with myself as the beneficiary?

[Mike Darancette]

...were young, middle-class and white. "They wanted to experience a different culture from where they're living,"

Could also experience being robbed, raped and murdered. But they are probably safer there than in parts of Chicago

[kabumpo]

Old-school slumming, way too obvious and easy. They should have traded houses with someone black who lived in township, so he could have lived for three weeks in their house on thier income and blogged about it. Now, that would have been interesting.

[Mark17]

I am predicting a sudden death in the family

Several, I would suspect.