Transcription
Cape Town is a dream destination for many, but the metropolis at Table Mountain is shaped by a brutal reality. Almost 3000 murders were registered last year, and yet, this does not diminish its fascination. Millions of tourists are drawn here. Our reporter Daniel Koop sheds light on both sides from South Africa. A life between tourism and townships. Cape Town, Africa, is the city of the beautiful and the rich. A metropolis that attracts millions of people every year. Long white beaches, villa districts reminiscent of California, and restaurants that Germany cannot compete with. Those who pay in Euros can even save a lot of money. For this reason too, many young people are drawn here. A life in supposed luxury, that is one side. But Cape Town also has a completely different side. High crime rates, increasing migration numbers, and while tourists enjoy themselves, many residents in the townships live in poverty. What makes the fascination of this metropolis? We talk to people who are on vacation here, and to those who actually only wish for one thing, to get away from here. Tourist numbers have been increasing here more and more in recent years. Six million people alone come to the Cape region every year, many of them from Germany. Cape Town looks back on a long history. 46 years of apartheid and the bitter resistance against it. However, not much of Mandela's legacy remains in the city center. Trendy bars and hip shops, tourists, influencers, and digital nomads from all over the world shape the cityscape. So, I've been here for a few months. It's summer here, a disgusting winter in England. I woke up, just had a matcha. This is really the best matcha shop here in town. Friends of mine are also here. We just went for a run, did some sports, now we're going to work on the laptop for a bit, go to the beach, have dinner. You have a good life here. Cape Town is particularly popular with influencers right now. Greta Engelfried has also exchanged grey Berlin for the South African sun. The content creator wasn't sure at first if she could cope with the two different worlds here. So, do you feel like you're in Africa when you're here, or what's your impression? No, I don't think so at all. We say that all the time. We could also be in France right now, by the sea or something. Um, but that's exactly what I mean, what I find so shocking and what I think many people here just want to close their eyes to, is that they are here in their bubble, they have a daily routine, they can go to reformer Pilates, then have their avocado toast for breakfast, and then lie on the beach and get a massage in between or something. I do that too, right? But I think you should get to know both a little. To experience the other Cape Town, you have to leave the city. Just 20 minutes away from the chic cafes lie the townships. Here live the people who serve the tourists and enable them to have a carefree vacation. Since it is also not safe for us as a team, Peter, who grew up here, accompanies us. We are here in Langa, one of the oldest townships near Cape Town. Here live people who lack the most basic necessities. Normal participation in social life seems hardly possible. We meet Priscilla. The 46-year-old lives here with her children in a bare shack. The corrugated iron huts stand close together. Privacy, as we know it, is non-existent. Okay, so she's showing me where the family lives now. She told me she's the owner here, and in this shack, there are about, yes, two or three people who normally live here. She just told me that her biggest problem is that there is no work here. She always works from contract to contract, but permanent employment is almost non-existent here. Unemployment in the townships is constantly increasing. It is particularly high among young people, at almost 70 percent. No job, no money. Many fall by the wayside, become criminals or drug addicts. I want to ask Priscilla what she wishes for. The otherwise rather shy woman does not hesitate long when asked this question. Priscilla, how do you want your life here to continue? I want to get away from here. There are no opportunities here. I've lived here for almost 40 years now. My children also grew up here. I don't like it here anymore. Although contraception is paid for by the state, there are still many families with very many children. Raising them is often difficult. State support is only 25 Euros per child. This mother of five children is also affected by a lack of prospects. Every day I worry about how to get enough food for my children. I have no job, and the father of the children doesn't either. I also cannot send the older ones to school. For that, we would need shoes for the uniform, but I cannot afford them at the moment. And so they stay here. A lot of potential that is not being used or cannot be used. This is the impression I am increasingly getting here. A cycle from which it is difficult to escape. We drive back, just a few kilometers further, into a completely different reality. Drinks, good food in abundance. Yes, that is also okay. The country lives from tourism, but everyone who is here should also get to know the other side of this country and realize that there is another South Africa.