Imizamo Yethu is a township in Hout Bay, a coastal suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. Townships were developed during the apartheid regime as residential areas for the black, coloured and Indian population. A famous example is the township Soweto, today part of the South African capital Johannesburg.

Imizamo Yethu was founded in the early 1990’s as a settlement where mainly black people were allowed by the authorities to build homes known as ‘shacks’ or temporary shelters. Many of the black residents of Hout Bay could not afford, and by law were not allowed, to buy property or homes in Hout Bay and had no choice but to look for vacant land on which their temporary homes were built. This was done in many cases without permission and lead to much unhappiness and aggravation with their white fellow residents. In 1989 the local government had to intervene and a piece of property was developed with basic services (roads, water and sewerage) on which black residents were allowed to build their temporary shelters and named it: Imizamo Yethu Estate (Imizamo Yethu is Xhosa for ‘our combined effort’).

The apartheid ended 1994. However, the living standard in townships like Imizamo Yethu is still very low. Crime, violence, poor health care as well as poor educational facilities are some of the major problems the inhabitants are facing every day. Moreover, AIDS is affecting many families. Today, about 20% of the South African population between 15 and 49 years is infected with the HI-Virus – one of the highest percentages of HIV carriers in the world. For this reason, the South African life expectancy has immensely decreased to about 52 years for men and 54 years for women.

AIDS is just one of the major problems in Imizamo Yethu. Today, the 18 hectare area houses approximately 30,000 people, with many of these living in poor conditions with no plumbing, roads or any infrastructure for sustainable living. Insufficient water facilities, very few toilets and a poor sewerage system lead to bad health conditions. As a consequence of this, the Disa River which runs through this settlement has the highest level of e-coli bacteria that has ever been recorded in South Africa. Moreover, the situation is getting worse with more and more refugees from other African countries moving into the settlement, looking for shelter and peace.

Help IY seeks to improve these poor living conditions. Thereby, our projects cover diverse issues. Please find more information by selecting ‘About Help IY’.

Externe Quellen und mehr Informationen:

Südafrika

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCdafrika
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1071886.stm

Hout Bay und Imizamo Yethu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hout_Bay
http://www.hbcca.co.za/imizamo_yethu.htm