Blouberg Beach in Cape Town
Last June the crowd that gathered around the regional court of Durban it marked the turning point of an era. The reason was not one of those endemic to the colorful African nation: neither Mandela , neither him President Jacob Zuma neither does he AIDS neither him apartheid . However, the cause of the agglomeration responded in one way or another to all these elements. The crowd had gathered to wait for a local businesswoman, Shauwn Mpisane , who was facing multiple charges for tax evasion on public contracts, whose cleaning company she had signed.
The ostentatious lifestyle Shawn Y S'bu , her husband, was regularly featured in the South African tabloids, so some controversy was to be expected. As she made her way to the dais, all eyes turned to her. platform shoes (Lady Gaga has an identical pair that costs a whopping €2,850). I drove to the couple's house in the La Lucia neighborhood and I can say that in that place her shoes do not attract attention. High above her neighbors Beverly Hills of Durban , the villa is a peculiar design construction that moves away from the concept of simplicity: guards dressed in black, armed with semiautomatic , guard a mansion that houses, among other whims, a Maserati and two Lamborghinis . And it is that whatever the result of the trial, the most ostentatious couple of Durban illustrates the last chapter of the development in South Africa , which depending on the race, Social rank Y experience , it can trigger a river of blood, a shake of the head or an explosion of claims.
The apartheid ended in 1990. To the world's relief, Africa's pariah state avoided civil war, positioning itself as a respected peacemaker, and joined the once BRICS group , made up of emerging powers such as Brazil, Russia, India, China . About half of the population was born in a free country without any direct experience with the Group Areas Act , with the approval of laws or with the legislation that led to Nelson Mandela (today in a delicate state at 94 years old) to take charge of a racist country . But even with white supremacy eradicated, despite investments in infrastructure and state benefits by the African National Congress (CNA), South Africa continues to maintain one of the most unequal societies in the world.
The Izikhothane, young men from Soweto in their colorful attire
The black upper-middle class a niche has been carved out, but it is still a minority closely linked to the ruling party. During apartheid, travelers used to stay in certain hackneyed places (Kruger National Park, the garden route and BlueTrain). Today visitors (as well as locals) enjoy the freedom of wander without fear and ask questions that transcend the question of race: how can a society whose heroes promoted economic redistribution after his harsh days in Robben Island prison deals with a new ostentatious elite? my visit to Durban , as part of the trip that will take me to three South African cities, was the result of the need to know their scandalous hedonism.
It was already announced south african websites . Soap opera stars showing up on their louboutins or guests linked to cases of financial scandals, in private jets to attend events with champagne. It reminds us of a socialist system that dealt with capitalist temptations unfettered: Putin's Russia . Critics of the government – from the press, the opposition and members of the ANC – blame the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), a post-apartheid policy that forces South African companies to offer fair shares to the country's black community. It was essential to incorporate the excluded in an economy dominated by whites and Indians. But bee also generated a social class of manipulative parasites who neither create nor innovate, but know perfectly well how to recreate themselves.
the ones that were Black Diamonds , the emerging black elite, today are 'soft entrepreneurs' ( tenderpreneurs is a pejorative term that alludes to those public managers who became too rich) . When willie hofmeyr , previously at the head of the investigation unit, he revealed in 2011 that every year some €2.5 billion of the state budgets, was interpreted as an indictment of the tenderpreneurs. The president is the personification of the phenomenon. Not only for all the corruption charges he faced Zuma before coming to power in 2009.
"Six women and more than 20 children," says the businessman Moeletsi Mbeki . "Zuma is the pinnacle of ostentatiousness." Many of the South Africans follow his example, as if the money represented the natural goal of a young society . "Look, every country has its nouveau riche, if you don't look at British football players," he says. Thebe Ikalafeg , founder of Brand Africa, among other South African marketing companies.
The Victorian buildings of the longest street in Cape Town
In Durban , the largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal , most important port, my journey begins. While the first two black presidents of South Africa belonged to the xhosa aristocracy , Zuma, an ancient herdsman, is Zulu . He was curious as to what reward the local hero was expected to pay for his support in the last election. King Shaka International Airport is located in a green ocean of sugar cane , the plantation imported by the English settlers and whose harvest was worked by the ancestors of Mahatma Gandhi . It seems strangely empty. Apparently it's normal. The airport is one of the many projects born under the Soccer World Cup (2010) that have fallen into oblivion. Another is the Durban stadium, which looks like, with its white sails unfurled, a schooner about to set sail for the vastness of the Indian Ocean.
Benedict Xolani Dube , manager of Xubera, a thinktank local, offered himself as a guide. But when I told him that my mission was to contemplate durbanites , he was appalled: “Zulu culture is conservative, tied to church and family. It is a sleepy city. The march is on Jozi [Johannesburg]". Dube had a habit, shared with other South African drivers. Aware of the high rate of car theft, they never quite come to a stop at traffic lights, slow down to a crawl . The tactic is justified. What during the day is a vibrant urban center, at night it transforms into a menacing Gotham City.
In the morning I walk between schoolchildren hanging out on the baroque steps of City Hall, as I head to the museum, which illustrates the history of the local resistance . "It used to be nice here," Dube whispers. "But since the end of apartheid , thousands of blacks flock, each December, en masse to the public beach. The whites abandoned the idea of a shopping center in umhlanga and a luxury neighborhood in little ball ". Congestion and parking shortages probably forced the Exodus , but locals complain about crime during Christmas.
We continue on our way. A florida road , in the Morningside neighborhood, which has some of the oldest colonial buildings in Durban , with its delicate white wooden verandas guarded by palm trees. The bars are packed with a stimulating and diverse crowd. "Here people do not consider themselves black, yes part of the elite Dube points out. A group of white girls stagger down the street with vertigo heels Y skintight dresses.
The modern Soweto Theater in one of Johannesburg's township
At Spiga d'Oro, famous for being held by Zuma's jailed partner, Schabir Shaykh , all the tables are occupied. But any hope for integration ends here. That same night, Dube took me to the Zimbali Resort. Any party that appears in the tabloids of Durban seems to always be celebrated in Zimbali , stage besides controversial business meetings. Hence my choice. It is so huge that after have negotiated my ticket at the 'checkpoint', it looks like a war zone, and I immediately get lost.
While Dube I asked a messenger, I settled in the car and perceived an amalgamation of aromas from the bushes, from where the sounds of nocturnal creatures . I was expecting a luxurious resort. The surprise was room size I needed a small flashlight to locate the bathroom. What I did not expect was that this five-story building, forty minutes from Durban , kept the hotel's residents so protected from the masses, and its golf courses at an aseptic distance.
The apartheid established an unequal class ladder-here it reappears again, only now money differentiates more than skin color , which exempts the resort from apologizing. The next morning was more encouraging. I was hopefully certain that some South Africans are trying to prevent this divide from becoming an entrenched reality. Linda Mbonambi , a local government coordinator, took me from the coast to the top of KwaMashu , a township (neighborhoods built during apartheid for racial segregation) on the surrounding hills Durban.
Named for marshall campell , a 19th-century sugar producer, in KwaMashu – 'Marshall's place' – forced black workers from Cato Manor to settle during the 50s and 60s. Accustomed to the sad ghettos of East Africa, I was surprised by the joy of KwaMashu . Part of that impression is due to green. The houses are tiny, but most have a mango , a piece of grass or a backyard full of flowers.
Rcaffé, at the Daddy Long Legs Hotel in Cape Town
little passionate, Mbonambi shows the newly paved highway linking old slums, a new taxi rank, houses with electricity and running water, and a shopping center for modest high-end businesses. blacks with savings . back to the valley, Mbonambi tells me that this piece of land will become a residential and industrial area with a budget of $2.7 billion named Cornubia . It will be an experiment that completely eliminates the class difference. "It will be the only area in Africa where South Africans of very different rank ", she adds.
The next stop was Johannesburg . Born from the gold industry, it is the largest and most dynamic city in South Africa , where anyone who moves around here feels that he has the opportunity to make his project a reality. I land in the morning, I tremble as my body registers the difference of temperature between the humid Indian Ocean and the coolness of this weedy plateau. the air in Highveld , some 1,700 meters above the sea, is so dry that the skin cracks and the lips are cut.
Strolling through the Melrose Arch shopping center, I am aware that I am in the right place. when he finished the apartheid , the financial center of Johannesburg was completely transformed (and not in the best way). Like an onion rotting from the center, the city saw money flee to the periphery, where they live together in protected communities and shop at rosebank Y Sandton City . Parking there is safe and street vendors and prostitutes stay away. But Melrose Arch , which has just been stripped of scaffolding, raises the phenomenon of mall.
Of cobblestone streets, red brick buildings and outdoor cafes, Melrose Arch it has something Mediterranean –if you leave aside the huge plasma screens–. I stay at the hotel of the same name and sink into the armchair in the bar. The somewhat outdated decoration is reminiscent of a Private club , with a pool table and bookcases with leather covers. In the low tables, contracts are closed. I once interviewed last zarean criminal , the son-in-law of Mobutu Sese Seko , who always travels first class – not so much for luxury, as for being close to power. I know I would have been happy here.
The lobby of the Protea Hotel Fire & Ice, in Johannesburg
The shops that open onto the square sell Italian shirts, Swedish designer jackets and cosmetics from chanell Y Estee Lauder . In the window of a jewelry store, a women's Piaget with diamonds valued at €86,900 , as well as earrings and sunglasses. I spot up to three guards dressed in a long black coat. "Is Melrose Arch a good place to open a business?" I ask the shop assistant. "Definitely, this is the perfect place" . She seems nice. I ask him about the price of a Breitling for men that appears constantly in An inconvenient youth , the biography, written by journalist Fiona Forde, of julius malema , the former leader of the CNA youth, whose denunciations against the current system have made him win followers among the poor. Malema finds no contradiction between his role as revolutionary troublemaker and his business empire. The Breitling model I envisioned for Julius Malema amounted to €11,700.
The next day I was looking for another Breitling , this one for the doll of a colleague from Malema: Kenny Kuene , a convict prosecuted for fraud, the king of ostentation, alias Sushi King , which is against all ancient intellectual elite , black or white. A top-hatted concierge leads me to the apartment block Kunene uses as a base in Sandton. wears jeans Harrod's , shoes Lamborghini –I thought I only made cars–, and a leather jacket versace . The shirt sports a curious message: 'the mind is a wonderful thing to waste'. Little friend of subtlety, he is a man of two watches: on a wrist, a Breitling , and in the other, a Rolex Oyster . "It's my brand."
Kunene achieved fame thanks to Czar , a conglomerate of night clubs . The Czar of Johannesburg recently closed, but Kunene claimed that was part of the plan. He positions himself with clubs to later take over more succulent businesses. This man, who revels in rivalry, has a face full of knife scars , consequence of street fights in Zulu, where he grew up. Surprisingly touchy, Kunene took up the case of Zwelinzima Vavi, leader of COSATU, the labor union, who accused him of "spitting in the face of the poor" after his birthday party in 2010, where he tasted sushi on young models.
"People think that if you make money, you have to be discreet. I don't fight for freedom and then hide my money. Those people are the worst of the hypocrisy There is an apparently self-serving debate about whether conspicuous spending sets a good example for the underprivileged. I asked those who admire him: "Why did Kunene raise passions?" . An assistant answers: "Because he is the hope." It is not the impression that he shares Moeletsi Mbeki –Critic of the post-apartheid government, including the one led by his brother Thabo–. He never tires of warning South Africans that one of the most unequal societies in the world cannot cope with waste be it economic or political.
Nanny with baby at Circa on Jellicoe, a Joburg art gallery
There is a real possibility of a violent uprising. Isn't this profile of thief tycoon a feature common to developing economies? Aren't those same thieves the ones who posit themselves as the fathers of successful economies, pillars of respectable communities? Mbeki avoids the comparison. "The difference with the American thieves is that they themselves are the producers. In the 19th century, in the United Kingdom, success was linked to industrial or investor , later it was linked to the scientist or the engineer. This does not happen here." Here it is not strange that the officers of CNA be satisfied with knocking down the ladder they have climbed.
I had the need to go deeper and organized a night in the township of Soweto . "Now we are in Africa," my taxi driver from Tanzania with a giggle as we make our way to a hotel with a view: to one side, the vegetable vendors of kliptown and, on the other, the stretch of land where the famous Freedom Charter . Despite its status as a symbol of brave black resistance, Soweto , to tell the truth, it was never the most desperate township in Johannesburg . Today a good part feels bourgeois. The houses are usually on one level, many of them are embellished with Ionic columns and sculptures. And its metal doors suggest there is something of value inside. the emblematic Vilakazi street , the only one in the world that welcomed not one but two Nobel laureates (Mandela and Tutu), is equipped with commemorative works, benches and trees.
Right there is the stadium where the Soccer World Cup , a state-of-the-art hospital, the new shopping center maponya and the fashion theater Soweto Theater , whose capacity was full that night. Beyond its wine festivals, Soweto boasts its first gym with internet cafe, pool and spa. The huge Virgin Active Health Club is located at the junction of Chris Hani and Mohoka streets, and its parking lot is packed. "We opened in 2011 and we have 4,000 members," says the director, Phumzile Ngema. "People have these preconceived ideas. Soweto It has indeed changed."
The corner lounge had everything you'd expect from an urban drinking den: girls dressed up flirting while enjoying a sparkling rosé, huge plasma screens broadcasting football and a selection of scotch whiskeys that would expose Balmoral. The extraordinary thing is that the place is located in a structure incorporated into a four-bedroom house in the heart of Gugulethu , black township on the outskirts of Cape Town , the third stop of my trip.
the Nobu restaurant at the One&Only Resort in Cape Town
The space is so small that it gives the impression of being crowded when the public is standing. That Sunday afternoon it started to fill up when he entered a group of well-dressed young people , all with a bottle under their arm that they ostentatiously deposited on the table: Chivas Regal, glenfiddich, glenlivet, Johnnie Walker . Of course, the prized boxes with the brand's shiny logo are almost more important than what's inside. The bottles are a kind of rate. Nkuleleko Tutubele , a reformed criminal and owner of the corner lounge , lead a macho movement: hit your girl, do not respect older people and pay a fee in premium spirits . When the alcohol starts to run in earnest, expensive cars full of young people thirsty for attention park outside: a Mercedes Benz , a Jaguar , a Audi , a Wrangler and a BMW 325.
The show has something in common with the izikhothane , a phenomenon that emerged recently in the townships . The izikhothane – teenagers who beg, go into debt and steal in order to afford italian jeans , designer shirts and leather moccasins – compete in outfits. The female audience is essential. These rival dandies preen, insult each other, and finally shed their brand clothes to set it on fire. Unathi Kondile , professor of communication at the University of Cape Town and current affairs blogger, thinks this whole car thing isn't as insensitive as you might think. "It may seem surprising that someone parks a Maserati in the heart of poverty", he tells us.
"But in the townships, there is a sense of community. These kids left their homes to make a living. They come back to say to the neighborhood (their extended family): 'Look, I'm doing well, I've been successful' ". "The irony is that many drivers are financed Mom and Dad . There is a clear tendency to miseducate children by parents who have suffered the apartheid ", he admits. However this curious spectacle of the cars of Gugulethu confirms the difficulty of cleaning up a once segregated society, how complicated it is to unite what was brutally separated . Affluent blacks move to residential areas. But when they want to be themselves, their new neighborhoods suddenly seem narrow-minded. Many decide to return to the township.
Cape Town It gives the feeling of being the least African city in the country. When I first visited her almost twenty years ago, I admired the way she the mountains seemed to fall into the sea , I enjoyed the vineyards, its old dutch farms and walk through their surfing beaches . There was something magical about how quickly the weather changes: soft sea mists give way to wave-stirring rain, followed by sudden rays of sunshine and intense rainbows.
The beautiful Table Mountain above Cape Town
The relaxed and bohemian province is closer to California what of Kinshasa . I wondered if this time things would be different. He was aware that the Western Cape was a rogue province for many, because of the party's support Democratic Alliance by Helen Zille. But the presence of black legislators in the South African Parliament, in addition to years of positive discrimination , has certainly had a tangible effect.
It's easy to believe when you walk, during the day, through Long Street , a mixture of faces and races. But with the setting of the sun things change. I was told that the Taj Cape Town , opposite the Parliament, is one of the favorite places of those who they cut the cod . So I booked a table at his Bombay Brasserie . But the only black faces I could see all night were the heads of a small group heading to a rally . I checked into the One&Only Resort , in the neighborhood of Victoria & Alfred Waterfront . property of the tycoon Sun Kerzner , is one of the fashionable corners. A favorite not only among Hollywood actors, but also from Kunene, Malema , politicians of CNA and business tycoon tokyo sexwale.
Quinton Mtyala , a Parliament reporter, was my escort at the restaurant in One&Only , the only African headquarters of the prestigious restaurants Nobu . But the pain of being the only black man in the place made eating a tough test. "Oh wow, me here in Nobu eating sushi with a white woman" . His restlessness is linked to his hometown. "In Cape Town, apartheid was perfect: Black people were forced out of the city center in the 1960s." Cape Town still seems to have the label of "for whites only".
"In Johannesburg, blacks feel like they own it. Yet this city is not capable of acknowledging its own racism." A night walk through the center confirmed the idea of a polarized urban landscape. There were so many vigilantes in fluorescent vests that I should have felt protected . But like the black population of Cape Town, I felt uncomfortable.
The hipsters of the Gugulethu township in Cape Town
The trip left me in suspense like drivers in south africa at traffic lights , undecided. He had heard predictions as optimistic as apocalyptic. Many analysts I respect have confessed to me that this country, whose townships had been hit by demonstrations due to delays in the installation of water pipes and electrical lines, you could suffer a Arab Spring if you can not reduce in time the social inequalities , growing older. What is clear to me, as a journalist who witnessed the fall of the golden regime of Mobutu , is what a society looks like when its government stops getting involved.
Anyone who has walked the inner cities of Nairobi Y lakes knows the scent of entrenched cynicism. The South Africa today, with its emerging highways, its railways and the Government's strong will to invest in services does not have that aroma anywhere near. Many blacks confessed to me that they feel violated by the media , dominated by whites. They affirm that under the accusation of ostentation and corruption a paternalistic and racist message is hidden. Something like: "Do you see what happens when you leave the country in their hands?"
Possibly Mamphela Ramphele , former head of the World Bank and veteran anti-apartheid activist, is right when she questions these assumptions. "The opulence of white wealth in this country far exceeded that of the nouveau riche today , but they considered themselves rich all their lives. Why is owning five cars considered more ostentatious than five houses? I agree with the words of Tebe Ikalafeng , one of the country's foremost marketing experts: “Indeed, we all want South Africa to be a global example of diversity and harmony” , He said. “In practice, he lives his adolescence. The tensions are not just racial, but generational. We are in full swing. I am convinced that when it ceases, a consolidated country , raised among all”.
sure to Ikalafeng he would have loved the conversation I had with my taxi driver the same day I left Cape Town . Among the journalists' guild, quoting taxi drivers is somewhat hackneyed, but Trevor Beukes – also a graphic artist and aspiring guide – deserves a mention. On the freeway, he showed me some townships for 'people of color' like him. Beukes recounted his cyclical trajectory: from his home township to a residential area and back again.
“When apartheid ended, we left the settlements and began to live as whites. One day I realized that everything I had didn't really belong to me. I sat my youngest son down and confessed to him that he couldn't afford his college expenses. That was the turning point ”. "And what did you do then?" “I got rid of my debts, got rid of the mortgage, started cutting costs and moved. The size of my current house is the same as the home of my former servants.” "And today you feel happy?" "Yes. Now I put a face to my neighbors. In the past, we hardly greeted each other at the supermarket.”
It is possible that for the first time in the entire trip, I will meet someone absolutely convinced of where they want to be. Nice to have met you, Trevor: a man who tasted the honeys of consumption and sentenced: "Frankly? Nope".
This report has been published in number 61 of Conde Nast Traveler.
*** You may also be interested in...**
- 48 hours in Cape Town
- Five (good) reasons to go to Cape Town
- Cape Town: effervescent South Africa
- South Africa: see animals without traffic jams
Shop designer pieces and jewelry in the Bromwell, Woodstock neighborhood