THIS IS MY HOME, SAYS ONE OF MDANTSANE’S WHITE RESIDENTS

Tony Lynch at his house in Mdantsane, for him home is where his heart is.

Tony Lynch resides in Mdantsane and is one of the few white South Africans who swapped the comforts of suburban lifestyle for the hardship associated with township life. Coming from parents of German and Irish descent, Lynch was born and bred in Cape Town and fell in love with the township of Mdantsane when he started working as a lecturer.

“I met my wife, who is Xhosa here in Mdantsane and after we got married I decided to buy a house here. For me it was all about convenience because the school I teach at is close to where I stay,” he said.

He feels that contrary to the stereotypes that the townships are dangerous, especially for white people to reside in, he has no regrets about moving to the township.

“In the beginning my wife was very apprehensive and was protective of me, but she soon relaxed when she saw how my neighbours were receptive of me from the beginning. Now I have become some sort of a celebrity as I attend local funerals and traditional functions, my wife and I are always greeted by the local community because they are used to seeing us around the kasi”

Lynch admits that he is still taken aback by the reaction of both black and white people as he finds himself having to answer questions about his choice of residence.

“Many people are shocked when they hear that I stay in the township. White people would ask questions like, “ Is it safe to stay there or do you not fear for burglaries and how do you sleep at night”, I just tell them that criminals steal from them in the suburbs to sell for me in the township,” he said jokingly.

He feels saddened by the high unemployment rate in the Mdantsane and is a huge champion of community development.

“Joblessness is a huge problem here because many young people are out of jobs and there is lack of skills to enable them to get jobs. In ward meetings I would often suggest a skills centre here in our area but that fell on deaf ears, imagine this is a second biggest township but we have only one technical school and one College which are both situated in NU 1.” 

Despite the slow improvement and lack of basic amenities, Lynch does not see himself moving out of  Mdantsane soon. He feels attached to his friends and acquaintances, and enjoys going out on weekends for a braai at local Tshisanyamas .