Perhaps nowhere else have I experienced such joy with a group than at Mzansi in Langa Township. Langa is nestled on the inland side of Cape Town, easily overlooked as tourists are shuttled from the airport to the bustling, cosmopolitan wharf. Langa Township is the first township of Cape Town. Its origins are owed to the forced relocation efforts of the early 20th century. Starting in the 1920s, even prior to the apartheid era, Black South Africans were being removed from their homes and made to resettle in designated areas. Thus Langa became a hub of Black South African culture, innovation, and resistence.

Today, however, Langa is increasingly being recognized as a destination in its own right. Our visit brought me back to the Mzansi restaurant, which I was eager to share with the group. Mzansi was started in 2008 by an enterprising woman by the name of Nomande Siyaka. Sadly, Nomande passed away in 2023, but her son continues on the tradition of welcoming guests into their home for a delicious meal and a great time.

What starts as an unassuming family-style meal, soon turns into a fully participatory experience.

It can be challenging to absord the magnitude of historical disparities and injustices that Black South Africans have had to endure over time. And frustrating to hear from university colleagues the distance yet to travel toward educational equity.

In Langa, though–through music, through food, through generous hospitality–our students were able to share in the irrepressible spirit that is South Africa.

It was one of many beautiful moments that helped define our South African experience.

–by Melinda Richardson, co-lead