White man in Khayelitsha

I have been brought up with the picture  of the murder of Voortrekker Piet Retief and his peace commando firmly inscribed in my mind at the hands of the soldiers of the Zulu nation. The fights with Xhosa in the Eastern Cape areas and the intolerable situation under the British rule in the Cape made many people leave to look for greener pastures.

So when I mention to friends of mine that I want to invite them to tea (or coffee) in Khayelitsha, they say ... are you mad ... I do not think I want to be there at all! So they still have the fear ... of death ... or harm about an area like Khayelitsha.

Our son, Johan (Xolani) louw lived in Site B, Khayelitsha for two years (2009 and 2010) and paved the way for us to get here. He was incredibly brave to do this virtually on his own and he made many friends in the process. So when he decided to move back to Bellville, it gave us the ideal opportunity to move into his house in Khayelitsha.

"Is it safe?" is one of the questions that we get. Of course it is safe, but then we also do not go about looking for trouble - we don't want to be out much at night and we are vigilant when we are out, but that is very much the same is it was in Plattekloof or now in Bellville. We (Anita and I) both work from home and spend three days a week in Bellville and the other half of the week In Khayelitsha. We have a calling to improve people's lives. We do it through Herbalife and using our skills and training in various other areas. One of the big things that we can continue that our son started is to build a bridge between the communities.

There is a spiritual depth here that is easy to miss if you look from the outside. Then, on the other hand, the battle for the soul of Cape Town is being fought here. Poverty and unemployment is high with a shortage in houses that the Western Cape government will never get under control if you look at their record of the past ten years - and it is the same for ANC and DA - so this is not a political statement, but a practical observation.

"So why are you there?", is another question... we believe that we can make a difference and change one life which may impact another and another and yet another. And then we get to the next life that we may impact ...

Ideally all shacks in Khayelitsha should go with the help of the capital rich, and all spiritual poverty in the affluent areas in Cape Town disappear with the help of spiritual giants in Khayelitsha. So we can help each other. To do this we need all of us to stand together!

Site B,
Khayelitsha