HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX:
Born in 1912 when a group of blacks bought land
from a white farmer who failed to find white buyer, Alexandra will be turning 100
this year (2012) with very
little to celebrate or party about.
This year (2012), one of Johannesburg ’s most notorious townships,
Alexandra, known popularly as “Alex”, marks its 100th anniversary.
Many are still hoping the government will embark on revitalizing this slum that
has become nothing less than a symbol of inequality in South
Africa
Despite its ramshackle
history, it is a township that is credited with being former president Nelson Mandela’s first home in Jo’burg.
The pride of its
over 400, 000 residents, mostly
migrant workers and a third of whom are unemployed is that Alex became and is
still one of the very few places where people of color can own property. This
is what has over the years cultivated its culture of resistance and one that
saw Alex survive the apartheid rule.
It is a township
whose accident of history, in line with her boycotts helped inspire Mandela’s
fight for freedom.
With the ambitious
renovation project launched back in 2001, set to revitalize Alex with building
of thousands of houses, tarred roads and putting up of street lights, it is yet
to be seen whether Alex will survive the bulldozers of modernization, of trying
to bring equality and attract investment.
- Additional reporting by AFP
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