NEW: You think you know Soweto? Welcome to the millionaire suburbs

The SMS you will get if you drive through the South-Western Townships, also known as Soweto, is as certain as death and taxes. The message – and sometimes a phone call – from your car tracking company will notify you that you are now in a “high-risk area”.

This is the side of Soweto most people have come to expect: a place with poor infrastructure, high unemployment and crime. In areas such as Jabavu, the employment rate sits at just 34%. The median monthly income for those who work in the area is R2,400 (£118). Yet a few kilometres away from some of the township’s poorest parts lie Diepkloof Extension and Pimville, home to Soweto’s richest. Modern luxurious homes (many valued at well over R1m), German cars parked in their garages, sit behind high walls – reminiscent of Johannesburg’s traditionally white suburbia.


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