SOWETO, South Africa - Seeing buses full of tourists looking for a glimpse of South African poverty, squatter camp resident Lawrence Rolomana decided to try to earn a share of the cash they were spending.
Bored and jobless, the 22-year-old approached the tour guides 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.
