Phuthaditjhaba used to be the capital of the former bantustan of QwaQwa during apartheid. Today the eastern Free State town, now the seat of the Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality, is a difficult place to navigate. Roads and streets are marked by piles of litter on the sides, huge potholes in the middle and and streams of sewage all over.

A particularly rocky gravel road leads to a sprawl of formal houses and shacks named Mandela Park Extension 2...