Walk to Freedom in Cape Town

On 11 February 1990, hours after leaving prison, Nelson Mandela came out onto the balcony of Cape Town’s City Hall and spoke to the crowd packed across the Grand Parade below. A bronze of him stands on that balcony now. It is where this morning starts, and it sets the register for the rest of it.

District Six is a few streets away, and most of it is not there. It was a crowded, mixed neighbourhood of families, workers and craftsmen under the mountain until the government declared it white in 1966, moved its people out to the Cape Flats and flattened their houses. Much of the ground stayed empty for decades, and you drive through what is left of it.

The museum is in an old Methodist church on the edge of the district. A street map covers the floor, and former residents have written on it in their own hand where their houses stood; the old street signs, saved when the district came down, are on display nearby. Most of what you read is testimony. Take your time here. Nobody hurries you.

Langa is a short drive out. It is Cape Town’s oldest township, laid out in the 1920s, older than apartheid itself, and its people marched on the city in the pass-law protests of 1960. Today it is old hostels made over into family homes, new housing going up beside older streets, churches, barbers and schools, and a great many people going about their day.

The visit centres on Guga S’thebe, the community’s arts and culture centre, where potters, painters and craftspeople have studios and the work is for sale by the people who made it. A guide from the area walks you round the streets nearby and talks about Langa as a place to live, not as a lesson. Ask questions. People here are used to good ones.

Most people stop at lunch. If you want the whole day, take the afternoon ferry to Robben Island, where Mandela spent most of his prison years. After this morning, it lands differently.

Good to know

• The District Six Museum keeps its own opening days. We plan the morning around them.
• Langa is people’s homes. Photograph a person only when they have said yes.
• Buying at Guga S’thebe goes to the artists. Bring some cash; not every studio takes cards.
• It is a heavy morning. Leave the afternoon quiet, or give it to the island.
• Robben Island ferries fill weeks ahead in season. Tell us early if you want the full day.