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Poverty tourism brings cash to S.A.

and asked: "Can you please share your guests with us?" He suggested showing the visitors around the camp where he lives, offering them more than just a fleeting glimpse from the road. "No problem," he was told, "as long as you bring them back in one piece."

Attracting tourists might seem a daunting task for someone living in a squatter camp in Soweto township, on the edge of Johannesburg, the world's most dangerous city outside a war zone.­

However, Rolomana and his friends now take hundreds of mostly Western visitors, keen to see the grim side of the new South Africa, around their community every week.­

The tiny shacks in the Motsoaledi camp have no water and no electricity. Parents and children share a few square metres, possibly one table, one bed and a television set powered by a car battery. There are no museums and no obvious tourist attractions.­

Before tours were organised, visitors on their way to see the house of former president Nelson Mandela in Soweto, the crucible of the anti-apartheid struggle, were already stopping by for a glimpse from the safety of their buses.­

Four years later, after working with residents on security and tour guiding skills, professional guides are happy with the arrangement.­ So are Rolomana and 20 other residents who share the work.­

Touring the settlement is free. But Rolomana can make up to 100 rand ($13.50) in tips on a good day, taking visitors on a short stroll down the narrow alleys, visiting a shack and watching residents coming and going and collecting water at one of the communal water taps.­

That is equivalent to roughly a day's pay for a security guard protecting an apartment compound in a wealthy suburb.­

Growing numbers of tourists are visiting townships such as Soweto between safaris and trips to the beach at Cape Town.­ Do the poor, black residents resent the much wealthier, often white, tourists coming to stare at their poverty?­

Many say they don't.­ Desmond, 42, who moved to Soweto from the southeast region of Eastern Cape and lives in a few square metres with his wife and four children, tries to survive with the odd day job. He welcomes the extra cash.­ "I feel happy because people can help us. It feels all right, no problem," he said. Visitors, leaving after exchanging a few words, sometimes leave a banknote when shaking his hand.