Blog
Patrick Phungwayo
This piece appeared initially in The New York Times. “When you come from the township you have to prove yourself.” The words come from the driver’s seat out of a pool of darkness blotted by distant blurred lights. One hand grasping a flip-top bottle of Powerade, the other on the wheel of his moderately pimped [...]
Ricardo Rico Kutumela
This piece appeared initially in The New York Times. He may not quite know it yet, but Ricardo Rico Kutumela will, one day soon have to beat the ladies back with a stick. Hell, he almost had to beat me back! It’s the smile. Full. Warm. Genuine. I find myself immediately at ease, smiling myself. [...]
Fat Cakes
“This is what happens to a professional football player in South Africa after he retires.” Shakes pats an impressive paunch lovingly. Built like a bulldog, his belly is just about the only soft part on him. Rumor has it that while it has certainly grown in stature, it was one of the characteristics that defined [...]
Isaac “Shakes” Kungwane
This piece appeared initially in The New York Times. Isaac “Shakes” Kungwoane lumbers down 11th avenue, pausing momentarily to light a menthol Cravin A. His thick fingers form a cup around the flame, shielding it from the winds of this bitter South African winter. Horns blare from taxi vans that careen through Alexandra’s frighteningly narrow [...]
Good Slice in Good Hope
This post appeared first in National Geographic Traveler’s blog, Intelligent Travel. Talk about off the beaten path. I’ve been working in Alexandra township (Alex) in Johannesburg, South Africa for a week now. Approximately 1.5 million people live in the four square kilometers that comprise Alex. Most of these people are South African, a growing number [...]
Nancy “Maradona” Majola
This piece appeared initially in The New York Times. In the shadows of a windowless room, 17-year-old Nancy Majola sits between the television and a space heater. The heater’s few functioning coils glow a promising orange in an affront to their minimal effect. Like most homes in Alexandra Township, this battered, concrete structure has no [...]
Jacob “Babes” Bopape
This piece appeared initially in The New York Times. “Call me Babes. Those who know me call me Babes.” I get the sense that everyone knows Babes. Sixty-nine years old, born in Alexandra township in Johannesburg, South Africa, Babes lives there to this day. A cross between James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman, his deep [...]
USA vs. England in South Africa
This post first appeared in National Geographic Traveler’s blog, Intelligent Travel. After flying from Washington, DC, USA to Johannesburg, South Africa over the course of 24 hours for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, what would you do if offered a ticket to the USA vs. England soccer game? Would you take it? Yeah, so would [...]
