Langa is Cape Town’s oldest township, founded in 1927, and there is no better place to understand the city’s apartheid past, and the music, art and community spirit that carried its people through. On this Langa township tour you walk the streets with a local guide, meet the people who live and work here, and sit down to a proper South African lunch.

Educate yourself on apartheid history. Start at the Langa Heritage Museum, housed in the old Pass Office, where Black South Africans were controlled under the hated pass laws. Hear how Langa came to be, how families lived under apartheid, and how thousands of residents marched from Langa into the city in 1960 to protest against the passes.

Discover the jazz and art. Langa has a proud musical tradition, and jazz has long been part of township life. Visit Guga S’Thebe, the township’s colourful arts and culture centre, see local artists at work, and buy pottery, paintings and crafts directly from the people who made them.

Taste the “seven colours”. The tour ends at the table with seven colours, the much-loved South African Sunday lunch of seven different-coloured dishes: think beetroot and carrot salads, butternut, chakalaka, creamy spinach, rice and slow-cooked meat or chicken, often with umngqusho (samp and beans), a Xhosa favourite.

This is a small, private and respectful tour: we ask before taking photographs of people, and the money you spend on the day goes to local businesses and artists.

Highlights

  • Langa Heritage Museum (old Pass Office)
  • Apartheid & pass-law history
  • Jazz & township music
  • Guga S’Thebe arts centre
  • Local artists & crafts
  • “Seven colours” lunch

Your day

  1. Stop 1
    Langa Heritage MuseumThe old Pass Office, where the pass laws decided where Black South Africans could live and work. Hear how Langa began in 1927 and why its people marched on the city in 1960.
  2. Stop 2
    Walking Langa’s streetsFrom the old hostels to family homes and busy corner shops: daily life in Cape Town’s oldest township, told by someone who knows it.
  3. Stop 3
    Guga S’Thebe arts centreMosaics, ceramics and studios where local artists work. Buy directly from the people who made it.
  4. Stop 4
    Jazz and township musicThe story of Langa’s music, and, when musicians are playing, a chance to listen live.
  5. Stop 5
    “Seven colours” lunchSit down to seven colourful home-style dishes, from chakalaka and beetroot to umngqusho, the Xhosa samp and beans.

Included

  • Private local guide
  • Pick-up and drop-off in Cape Town
  • “Seven colours” lunch
  • Bottled water

Not included

  • Art, crafts and souvenirs you buy
  • Drinks other than water
  • Gratuities