Kliptown in Soweto, South Africa has a remarkable history – not to mention hair dressers who create glamorous braided hairstyles for their clients. Kliptown’s homes are tiny, often-leaky affairs with corrugated iron roofs. There are uneven dirt pathways, gutters for waste and a few portable toilets for the entire community. But its inhabitants are proud that, in 1955, thousands of resisters met here to draw up the Freedom Charter as an alternative to the repressive policies of apartheid. This charter became the foundation of South Africa’s 1996 Constitution.
June 22, 2012 at 11:38 pm
My husband and I visited Soweto a number of years ago, and what struck me most was the strong sense of community – a wealth of support in the midst of poverty.