Mdantsane Is A Lovely Place - Isn't It ?

Tembisa Dema

" Mdantsane is a lovely place - isn't it ? ", Tembisa Dema said to me.

Tembisa is a friend of my friend Pelisa and we met on Nelson Mandela Day.

Mdantsane Is A Lovely Place Isn't It?

Tembisa took me on a ride through the neighborhood in her car. I had not asked. She just offered and I was more than happy to go with her. Sometimes I speak to a person for three hours and fill a small note book with useful and interesting information. I can truly say that there has never been a conversation that has not been interesting and stimulating for me. But sometimes it is just a single sentence that makes my day.

Mdantsane is a lovely place isn't it ?

Yes it is !

Mdantsane can be called idyllic.

It has a warm and positive spirit.

There is a lot going on.

It's friendly.

We started writing this blog to introduce our book and to allow the people whom we have met and who have given us so much of their time to see their pictures and to read their stories. 

But we are also writing it for the ones who have never been here. And very often they are close and could in fact visit the township. 

I met a very nice lady a couple of weeks ago who has been living in East London for 30 years but has never been to Mdantsane. She said, she always wanted to visit Mdantsane and was curious but the reason she had not was that she was scared.  What she told me can be probably called collateral damage inflicted through the Apartheid regime. Not only was the politic of suppression successful for a long time but the system did also estrange people. Today there is a different spirit.

I can only say Mdantsane is a lovely place and there is no need to be scared. Just come closer.

The people are as lovely as the whole township.

It is green. House owners have started everywhere planting little gardens or growing their own vegetables.

People like to be outside and a lot of socializing happens on the streets directly in front of your door and not inside your house which I think is so nice. 

Tembisa lives in NU 2 and is the proud mother of a daughter who has just been admitted to Hudson High School a well reputed school in East London. She has been working many years in the sector of HIV/Aids prevention but since June she is looking for a new job. 

" It is extremely difficult to find work ", she says. A statement that few people would want to object today. But still her spirit is strong.