South Africa’s Apartheid Hostels: A Forgotten Story Rooted In Decades Of Inequality
Introduction
Today’s topic of discussion takes us on a journey to Sub-Saharan Africa, but more specifically Southern Africa where I’ll be exploring Apartheid hostels and why these structures symbolise what Karl Marx’s refers to as the unequal distribution of wealth and resources amongst the working class.
Whilst many Black South Africans and in more recent times African migrants refer to Apartheid hostels as home, marginalisation remains a central theme for these forgotten groups of people. 34 years Post-Apartheid, one may argue that not much has been done to reverse the social, economic, racial, and health inequalities that continue to plague South Africa’s Black working class populations who live in Apartheid hostels and call them home.
Defining The Term Hostel In A South African Context
Initially, when I began researching the hostels that I had seen on Ehostela, I started with a basic google search for hostels in South Africa as I assumed this is what they were called. However, to my surprise the opposite of what I had watched on Ehostela showed up on my google search. I saw various modern backpacker hostels but nothing of what I saw on the tv series, and therefore it took a few more searches for me to eventually come across an article that explored the Apartheid hostels which then allowed me to dig deeper into my research.
Kenichi Serino and Nqobile Dludla note that “the hostels are one of the lesser-known legacies of apartheid the migrant labour system enforced on blacks by the white minority rule.” Which to a larger extent is wholly accurate true, as we often hear of the violent clashes between the ruiling party and democratic fighters, we hear of Nelson Mandela’s pledge to Black South Africans about achieving freedom and democracy and the Soweto Townships. But very rarely do we hear of these Apartheid Hostels which housed numbers of Black working class South Africans.
Johnny Miller in The Architecture of Apartheid notes that “In a South African context, the word “hostel” refers to a housing compound that was developed and designed for black migrant workers in the early days of South Africa’s history. Mines needed labour to dig the diamonds and gold which fueled the early country’s economy.” Additionally, Statistics South Africa defines hostels as “A communal living quarters for workers provided by a public organisation or a private organisation such as a mining company.”
Miller’s definition highlights the importance of context, when examining South African hostels, because there is a difference between European backpacker hostels that we are familiar with in the West. Additionally, this contextualisation echoes a time during my GCSE Sociology class where we explored key terms, and the one that stuck with me throughout life is the definition of culture which is defined as “the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.”
Where does my inspiration originate from?
Before I dive any deeper into this topic, I’d like to explain why I am interested in the unreported world. My interests primarily lie in African and Cuban history and Migration studies. I enjoy researching and learning about the undocumented world. The unspoken parts of African history and the nitty gritty parts too even if it is visually and mentally over-bearing at times. But perhaps this is exactly where my heart has always felt at home…uncovering the undocumented world.
I first came across the Apartheid hostel’s whilst watching a South African television series called Ehostela which is a “series set in KwaMashu which revolves around two brothers who — along with their father — run a powerful and secret organisation in a worker’s hostel. In the heart of KwaZulu-Natal, in KwaMashu township, there is a worker’s hostel called Delakufa and within its walls is a secret which is spoken of only in whispers: The Brotherhood; a secret society of inkabi (hitmen).
This then sparked my interest into what some people call the rabbit hole. I vividly remember days after finishing season 1 and 2, I began searching. Wanting to know more about these hostels and it took me sometime to eventually come across them but when I did, I couldn’t help but ask the why’s? Given the not-so-pretty history surrounding these Apartheid hostels why did they still house large numbers of Black South Africans/African migrants? Was it the prospects of better employment and economic opportunities? Was it for the “African dream”? Why did these groups of people leave their rural towns/home countries for these Apartheid hostels? Why?
The more I uncovered, the more my why’s became crystal clear and I use the term “African dream” as a pun to illustrate the stark irony and juxtaposition. And if you have ever studied English Literature at school, you may have come across the book “Of Mice and Men” which was written by George Orwell and explores the idea or for better words the “illusion” of the American dream through the characters George and Lennie.
We learn that that all that glitters is not gold and the propaganda of the term “American dream”, was coined to justify the struggles of working-class people in capitalistic societies who are search of a better life. But this “dream” often creates falsehood and more harm than good. Furthermore, the cons of cashing this dream is that often times it becomes the very downfall of people which is why I believe it is both ironic and a juxtaposition as what they usually seek to avoid from the onset, very quickly becomes reality and this “dream” can turn into a nightmare as we witnessed this with George killing Lennie “after reciting their shared dream of owning a farm one final time.”
And when we examine Marx’s perspective on capitalism in relation to the working-class workforce, Marx’s argues that it is an illusion for the “labour force” to believe that they will progress and be promoted in the workforce and access bourgeoise land and resources by their “hard work” and “merits” as we do not live in a meritocracy society.
In February 2022, The Borneo Bulletin Independent Newspaper spoke to a Woman who has lived at the Apartheid hostel for over 40 years. Noting that when she “moved from her village to the Johannesburg township of Alexandra, hoping to find a better life. Since then, democracy arrived. Her hair turned grey, she gained some weight. Her dreams for life in Johannesburg disappeared.”
Marx’s theory can also be applied to the Southern African context. The “prospects/hopes” of achieving economic success for many Black South African labourers. Apartheid hostels have reinforced the social and economic inequality, and furthered poverty, squalor, disease, and unsanitary conditions. At present these structures remain largely forgotten about as urban development in the glitzy glam urban-scale development in Sandton and surrounding areas appears to erase these forgotten hostels. The history and the pain that can be felt so deeply from the stories and visual pictures. Whilst violence crime is said to plague these hostels, I do not seek to centre my discussion on this. I seek to focus on the under-development and marginalisation of these forgotten people who often have no access to economic resource to move on from these hostels or develop them.
The History Behind Apartheid Hostels
Historically, mine-owners built hostels around the outskirts of mining cities to prevent Black economic migrants from accessing the inner-city towns where White South Africans lived and called home. And although we typically hear about Zulu men from rural settlements being the first settlers in these hostels, there were also women-only hostels in the Gauteng province that were built to house women closer to the inner-city due to the domestic nature of the work they carried out. These hostels were subject to tight surveillance and strictly enforce compliance to segregation policies that upheld White minority rule amongst masses of Black labourers. These “hostels are buildings designed for total control…often shaped like prisons.”, and the more you look at the architectural structure and design you really do see the structural similarities between Apartheid hostels and prisons.
According to the BBC News World, Apartheid hostels “were first built in the 1912 and…played a huge part in South Africa’s social history” and the last kind of these hostels were built in the 1980s.
However, Miller argues that the deliberate design and architecture of the Apartheid hostels in Urban areas was developed as a tool “for total control was not a new one; the architecture borrowed heavily from “compounds” first established on the diamond mines near Kimberley. These “compounds” were built by the mining companies and intended for African laborers; they were designed to enforce total control, providing a minimum standard of shelter, and an architecture of restricted access and containment.”
And goes on to argue that “Municipalities across the country decided to appropriate the compound model when designing the “locations” where Africans were required to live. These locations inevitably consisted of some sort of barracks-style dormitories, originally intended for single, working males.” Making it clear to that strategy was a deliberate attempt by oligarchs under Apartheid rule to maintain and uphold totalitarian rule and social disparity amongst Black South Africans living in Apartheid hostels.
Presently
Following the start of the Democratic era and the end of the war, traditional single-sex Apartheid hostels now allowed women and families to move in.
Statistics from the “StatsSA General Household Survey between 2007–2018 suggest that up to 429,026 individuals currently live in public and private workers hostels” with Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal provinces highest with the number of individuals residing in these hostels, and whilst it is argued that data from 2018 suggests that “Over the last decade the number of people living in hostels in Gauteng decreased considerably.”, it can be argued whether this data accurately reflects the present day and whether the various access barriers that may have risen in the process of collating this data influenced this trend.
The African National Congress under Nelson Mandela’s government introduced the Reconstruction and Development Programme in 1994, to remedy the inequality caused by the Apartheid. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Hostel dwellers will be allocated homes under this scheme.
Additionally, despite the abolition of Apartheid rule and the various Black Southern African Presidents who “in theory” made promises through their political campaigns/manifestos to improve the living conditions of residents who live in Apartheid hostel’s, the political theory is that efforts have been futile and there is little evidence to suggest how much has been done to materialise these promises. Take for instance, the Helen Joseph Hostel, whereby R17.5 million Rands was allocated to the re-development of the Apartheid hostel. ActionSA reported that funds allocated were instead misused and “corruption and a lack of accountability from human settlement officials has compromised people’s right to an adequate standard of living.”
And “Because black labour was regarded as nothing more than a necessary commodity to ensure that the mines remained operational and comfortably viable, there is little in the architecture of the complex that speaks to human welfare and comfort.” Echoing the reality and accounts of many who presently live and call the rooms in the Apartheid hostel home. The lack of access to basic hygiene and sanitary needs such as adequate sewage systems, clean water and overcrowded rooms/facilities make these neglected hostel’s inadequate to live in and difficult to manage the spread of infectious diseases particularly during epidemic and pandemics.
In 2019, Daily Maverick spoke to an Induna who is a [ “headman or councillor of an African people especially the Zulus”] who typically oversee the management of the neglected Apartheid hostels, and stated that “If any of the residents told you they were leading miserable lives, it’s because they are,” said the induna. “The government should fix all the hostels, but there is no hope of that because these buildings have been standing like this for many years. The only time there will be change is when a new government is in power, because the current government has failed.”
Closing Remarks
Whilst many may argue that political alliances and tribal divisions continue to further existing Apartheid inequalities that presently exist within South Africa’s forgotten Apartheid hostels, I would like to shine a light on the impact of surrounding urban-scale developments that have taken place in areas like Sandton and Soweto which surround derelict Apartheid hostels in Alexandra and Diepkloof.
Efrat Einzeberg maintains that “questions should be asked about whom these developments are for, who are the excluded, and what kinds of social-spatial relations they generate.”
It is quite easy to forget about the reality of Black South Africans/African migrants who have currently live in these structures, when glam and glitzy sky-scrapper hotels, restaurants, and shopping malls sprout up across affluent areas in neighbouring towns because the marginalised are overshadowed by these urban developments and become easily forgotten about/erased by those in wider society.
Whilst the derelict prison structures still remain on the outskirt of inner cities in urban provinces such as Gauteng, I do believe that community efforts and the desire to want better for others are required in order to see effective change. History cannot be erased, it either be learnt from or repeated. Current conditions of South Africa’s Apartheid hostels will only widen the existing social class gap. And grave work is required to restore the dignity and humanity of those who live in these hostels.
I believe that the mobilisation of global citizens in the nation and across the world, who are tired of cyclical patterns repeating will need to work collectively and not against each other to rebuild these cities and towns. And perhaps this is just my utopian dream but I do not see government reforms addressing this disparity in the manner that civic citizens who care about the community and shared suffering of people would.
