Special Report Transcript Episode 80, Section 4, Time 25:55

Hostel dwellers became feared and hated, but the uneasy relationship between them and the township communities has existed since the first hostel was built. Since the discovery of diamonds in the 1800s black men have travelled from the rural areas to industries in the north. The diamond field owners erected the first hostels for these workers to ensure a continuous, controlled and cheap labour force. Black men could only stay in the so-called white areas as long as they were employed by whites and they would stay without their families. It was an idea that would become intrinsic in the grand apartheid design. Hostels were soon built in the townships as other industries’ demand for labour increased. A community within a community was created. The hostel residents were seen by the township residents as outsiders; they were different.

Notes: Hostel violence, Inkatha men wearing red headbands.; Historical photos: Diamond fields, hostels

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