Day 1- Visit to Jukskei

My mother said "Poverty smells", after yesterday I believe her.

I went to Alexandra yesterday after ten years and was shocked that things have not gotten any better but got worse.

People living by the river in Alex have it bad. These people are living in shacks build so close together breathing space is a luxury.

That part of the river is beyond polluted. The people here do not have proper anything; there is one tap per 50+ shacks, one toilet per 50+ shacks and electricity does not exist in these parts of town.

I was told that people defecate in a plastic bag at night and when morning comes they dispose of it in the river. Some of the ladies told me that the rats nibble on their babies at night or if left unattended.

Clearly the people do not have it easy at all. Some ladies that I spoke too told me that home is in Limpopo where they live in better conditions but they came to Johannesburg for the money.

I got so many story ideas just being in that environment. The stench of rotting everything, watching children play and have fun in the dirt, and listening to the people talk, my mind went crazy with story pitches.

But this created a dilemma; I am not sure I want to focus my stories on Alex, I think I should move to other parts of the river as I am sure that there are other people living by the river who have stories to tell.

Maybe I should highlight the plight of the rich and having to live by a dirty river, or maybe the plight of middle class people who seem to be forgotten when discussing the struggles that come with living close to such pollution.

I am caught between my role as a journalist trying to write a story worth reading and that will highlight something and my role as a black woman and telling the story of my fellow black people in a dignified manner, while holding back the emotions of seeing how far we still have to go as a people and as a country.