How well do you know your hood?

IT's understandable when someone from one kasi does not fully know another kasi! I mean how would a person whose roots  are entrenched in Katlehong know much about Meadowlands? Not much of a chance, right?

Well, there are those few-and-far in between cases where a kasinian has moved from one kasi to another due to the regular family dynamics of our time but there aren't many cases of that nature.

What is embarrassing however, is how a person from a certain kasi, who goes around bragging about their hood to everyone they get the chance to talk about their childhood to, can be ignorant of most aspects of their 'hometown.'

I know for a fact that I have been caught red-handed and guilty of the above-mentioned. Growing up in Pimville, Soweto, where I was born and raised, I explored a lot. I can go on about the two Besters (Zone 6 - I lived there and Zone 7 - had many uhhhh, friends, there), Zone 6 Mgababa because we used to live there when I was a kid and had to walk through there to take i-short cut to e Zone 5 which I know pretty well because I had family there. I also had all sorts of other interests there but that is a story for another day. Zone 1 I sort of know as I had family and friends there. In my late teens I learnt a little about Zone 2 and Zone 4. I still don't know which is which but I know them both! For some reason, Zone 3 is still a mysterious part of my hood, as is Klipspruit and Kliptown.

You know those areas in your hood where you don't even know a single person's name, a spaza-nyana or at least a church ke? Ya, that's how it is.

Thinking back, I also realise that kasi also have status issues which led to us not knowing other hoods that well. I remember not being able to learn Zone 1 properly because I was limited to the grandparents' house. It was not an area to be 'seen roaming the streets' of. The same applied for the zones I never got fully acquainted to.

But on the other hand, crime was horrendous in our hood at some point so we were forced to stay within the perimeters of our homes to keep safe. This is possibly another reason why most of us don't know our hoods so well.

There are certainly many more, common and not so common, reasons why you don't know your hood as much as you would like to. It would be great to share your memories with your fellow kasinians and maybe teach us a bit more about the history of ikasi lakho!

- KasiMemories: Ambassador No.1

Contact: kasimemories@gmail.com