Docci on history of Cape Town townships’ community centres launched

A documentary aimed at recording the history of community centres in Cape Town’s townships including Gugulethu, Manenberg and Langa has been launched.

It is the brainchild of the Heritage Education and Research Project (HERP), an initiative which kicked off two years ago.

The first volume titled: “Going Down Memory Lane” is aimed at educating young people about how important community centres were for and can be again as central hubs for recreation and development activities.

It will also document and tells the stories of yesteryear, and how such spaces played an integral role in the well-being and development of the youth.

HERP Chairperson, Whitey Jacobs says they want the facilities to be a central point for the youth to learn skills.

Jacobs says, “The intention really of volume one is to begin a process where we going back to young people and say look this is what these centres have produced and these centres can continue to produce people they used to produce before. It’s how we used these centres today. And volume two will focus on comparing when the centres were used in the late 60s up to the 70s.”

Organisers say since the dawn of democracy, the role of community centres and the programmes run there, have diminished leaving them as merely venues to be hired for events such as weddings or other gatherings.

They are hoping to shine the spotlight on how these facilities can once again become the central hub for communities where young and old can participate in upliftment projects and activities.

Documentary Producer, Noxolo Dilima says the facilities are no longer serving their purpose.

Dilima says, “These facilities – we used to go there and play different kinds of sports in there, different arts and culture activities. But now they have turned into… I could call them white elephants. For example, at Monwabisi Centre in Langa, we used to go there for various activities but now if you go on Google you will find that Monwabisi Centre is written as a facility that you can book for weddings, funerals and staff, of which it never used to be like that.”

She says the documentary will be distributed to schools in various townships.

VIDEO|  Documentary on Cape Town’s townships launched in Gugulethu: