25th
1st World vs. 3rd World???
On the second day in Cape Town, we were posed the question “Is Cape Town a 1st world or 3rd world city?” I felt that Cape Town was more like a 1st world city because I had seen so many indications of wealth such as expensive cars, expensive houses, skyscrapers, and a general high standard of living.
I knew there were bad areas, but that is the case in many cities. I later discovered that the situation in Cape Town was a lot more complicated than simply good and bad areas. Because of the country’s racist history, the white areas were almost entirely filled with wealth, while the areas inhabited by anyone who was not white (blacks and coloreds as they were classified) had almost nothing.
In South Africa as a whole, the black and colored people make up 2/3 of the population, but during the era of Apartheid, they were confined to live in only 1/3 of the land with no money put towards their well-being. Because of this racist society, until around 15 years ago, there was very little infrastructure in any of these areas. There were no paved roads, no schools, no electricity, no running water, and many of the things we consider essential to our daily lives. Even though Apartheid has since ended, these conditions cannot be fixed overnight, and South Africa is still very much a “wounded” country.
