A collaboration between Cape Town Tourism and other stakeholders has resulted in a musical tour of Cape townships. Karen Rutter got on the bus
Weaving through throngs of home-bound pedestrians disgorged from hyperactive taxis, our mini-bus looked no different from all the others servicing evening rush-hour commuters. Except for the tour guide up front, and the uniformly pale complexions of the passengers in the back.
I’d vowed never to be driven around Cape Town’s outermost suburbs – okay, townships – on a package tour, no matter what promotional freebies were on offer. The idea was bizarre, like cruising Sandton in a 4×4, binoculars pressed to the windows (”On our left, a small herd of mall rats; they seldom emerge into direct sunlight except when Just Jinger play afternoon sets at the Randburg Waterfront”). Are we that alienated from our neighbours that we need to (literally) look at their dirty laundry in order to understand them?
Admittedly, the majority of registered township tours are aimed at foreign tourists (to be ticked off along with Big Five headcounts); but judging by the blurbs on the many brochures available, a good number of locals also sign up for round trips through some of the poorer parts of the city to experience ”interactive experiences in shebeens, spaza shops and people’s homes”. Ultimately, whether an imported or an indigenous township tourist, the idea still remained embarrassing.
These were the thoughts playing a riff through my head as we passed through Langa, Bonteheuwel and Gugulethu last week, courtesy of the Township Music Tour team. ”We” being three journalists, our guide, our driver (who happened to be the father of chief parliamentary whip Tony Yengeni) and Janice and John, two sunburnt visitors from Northern Ireland and Britain, respectively.
The deal was this – to check out a new variation on the Cape Town township tour theme, one which incorporates a circuit of clubs and pubs that feature live music (Afro-jazz, mbaqanga, marimba beats) played in an authentic environment. Currently running three nights a week (Tuesday to Thursday) at three different venues, the evening’s entertainment starts at six and ends around nine. Punters can tailor-make their own packages, however – on the night we went out, tour guide Leonore Beukes was taking Janice and John for supper at a private home in Gugs after the show, and then on to the Blue Note club in Rylands for some smooth jazz. The rest of us went back to the city.
But not before a pleasant surprise, in the form of a genuinely laid-back jol at our end destination, Smokie’s Tavern in Nyanga East. The band on the bill was Zuko Vanyaza and Friends, the beat was Afro-jazz with a township groove, the atmosphere genuinely warm and the beers mercifully cold. People perched on benches within the venue, or spilled out on to the street where the music could still be heard but the air was fresher. As Vanzaya and his side-kicks moved through a repertoire of original material as well as a few obvious crowd-pleasers, the small dance-floor got squished with bodies. It was a mini-party – and it was for real.
”It’s good to have music like this on a constant basis – it’s good for the musicians and it’s good for people who live here,” smiled resident Colin Gonisana, as we leaned against a car with our drinks. A musician himself, he’s keen on the idea of an established township music circuit pulling in a regular audience. Which is basically the big idea behind the Township Music Tour, I discover.
It started with the Cape Town City Council and Cape Tourism approaching New World Music, an Observatory-based recording and events company with extensive township connections. The deal was for New World to set up an infrastructure, a viable gig guide featuring local, preferably, original musicians, which could be touted to international and local visitors. New World received start-up funding (enough to buy a decent PA, transport for the equipment and musicians, and pay admin costs), enough to last from December 1999 to the end of February 2000. Working together with township communities and tourism operatives, they’ve established this initial music tour – and the idea is to expand from here. At the moment the artists and technicians involved in the tour are subsidised by funding, but the aim is to be self-sufficient – by pulling in increasing numbers of paying customers – in the very near future. This would result in more artists being hired, and more sound engineers being trained.
”We’ve been involved in developmental and recording work for over six years in the townships,” says Debbie Bird, one of the New World co-ordinators.
This includes the establishment of the Intsholo Skolo youth education initiative, which has enabled over 50 Khayelitsha children to read and write music, and the release of seven CDs (by artists such as New World worker Lennox T, Bloodlines and others), featuring traditional and township sounds ranging from choral performances to reggae vibes. Patrons of the New World Foundation, which has education and music promotion as priorities, include Sipho Puwani (Ikamva Labantu), opera singer Aviva Pelham, and jazz guitarist Jonathan Butler.
A lot of hard work has gone into the establishment of Township Music Tours; most importantly, it would appear that all involved, from tour guides to artists to club owners, have a committed enthusiasm for the project. By the time we left Smokies, at the sedate hour of 9.30pm, the joint was really starting to jump. Janice and John, a few beers to the wind, were genuinely disappointed that we had to go. So was I. At least, unlike them, I could come back quite easily. Hopefully, they’ll tell their friends to do the same.
The Township Music Tours run from Tuesday to Thursday every week, leaving Cape Town at six in the evening. To book call Cape Town Tourism on Tel: (021) 426-4260