Our guide, Musa, was born and raised in Soweto. As we were driving to Kliptown, we noticed there were some homes in Soweto that seemed more modern and/or in better shape than others. The dwelling was constructed with better material and the area around the living space seemed better maintained. When I asked Musa about this, he explained that the government has been trying to 'upgrade' the state of Soweto, but very slowly. In some areas, better homes have been built by the government in the hopes of getting people out of their self-constructed dwellings.
Musa pointed out that there is a LONG waiting list for these homes, as most people who live in Soweto stay in Soweto and do not move away. He also said that some residents announce where they are in the waiting list by painting their waiting list numbers on the out-houses constructed on their property.
Sure enough, within a minute or two of this factoid, we came across two Soweto homes with the numbers "201" and "202" displayed on their outside lavs:
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| (You might have to click on this to get a larger image) |
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