Townships have long endured an unfair wrap in the minds of many South Africans and international travellers, fuelled by a paranoia in the popular imagination, that villainises them as wholly unsafe and no-go zones. This is a perception that has been further frustrated by cherry picked images and the rare incidents of unrest, which invariably make their way onto 7 o’clock bulletins around the world. But this of course does not paint the entire picture of what kinds of spaces townships are. This tour chips away at the idea that townships are a hotbed of violence by tracing the history of what has contributed to this perception, which continues to stubbornly haunt the image of townships in South Africa. By visiting areas in Alexandra township previously labeled “no-go zones” to residents, the tour shows visitors the changing complexion of such areas and reveals that this label has long fallen off. Because of the distances covered on the tour it’s a must that guests know how to ride a bicycle to go on this tour.

Our first stop is a visit to the West Side apartments, which were built under the apartheid government. The area had a history of gang activity, which at its peak was said to have had a gang on each block. It was not uncommon for gangs to collaborate and conspire against each other. The ‘original’ gang morphed out of a community protection forum aimed at protecting West Side residents from loosely affiliated small time thugs known as DPLG that were terrorising the neighbourhood. The community protection gang is said to have gotten so influential that it began to meddle in student politics at the time.

Following this we head for an area known as Beirut, a section of Alexandra, which has been so named by residents because of the violent clashes that took place between ANC and IFP supporters in the early 90’s. This political violence put a spotlight on South Africa and had threatened to throw the country into a bloody tail spin on the eve of the country’s democracy. The violence was eventually extinguished through negotiations by political leaders at the eleventh hour and the country was able to make the transition to a democratic state. Beirut comprises of mostly Zulu inhabitants and the community is structured in more or less the same way as many rural areas in Kwa-Zulu Natal with local Ndunas in the seat of power.

From here we visit an all male hostel called Madala hostel, a legacy of the labour policies of the apartheid government. While we walk through the hostel we learn about the history of how the hostels were formed. These were places conceived of as housing for cheap black labour. This hostel like many others only houses men. Men would leave their families for long periods of time to come work in the city and send money back home. This migrant labour experience often contributed to the erosion of family structures as many men often stayed on in the city and made new lives for themselves. For a long time these hostels were labeled no-go zones and the opportunity to visit the inside of the hostels is a rare one, unique to this tour.

Before we visit our very last stop we take a short breather on a hill top known locally as Beverly Hills, which is also known as God’s Window, because you get a perfect view of the whole of Alexandra from here. Our last stop is the Rastafarian Village, a community where Nelson Mandela was known to have hidden out during his time in Alexandra. Here we get to meet both young rastafarians, also known as rudeboys, and the elders through whom we learn more about the history of the community and why this was a no-go zone for many people, and the absurdity of such a label – because as this tour shows, there is no zone that is a no-go.