Exploring the Apartheid Museum in photos

The Apartheid era is a part of the South African history that will never go away.  It shaped South Africa's past and future to what it is today and the results of it will be seen for generations to come.  Even though it isn't something that should be celebrated it is something that must be remembered to make sure such things will never happen again.  Ja, ja, I can already hear comments about some of the situations we find ourselves in today, but that isn't what this post is about.  This post is about the Apartheid Museum next to Gold Reef City in Johannesburg.  I have always wanted visit the museum  and that opportunity presented itself to me late last year while I was in Jozi for the Lilizela Awards.  I have to be honest when I say it probably isn't everybody's cup of tea, but it does tell the story of Apartheid in detail and is of particular interest to anybody who would like to learn more about the country's history.  This is probably also where the biggest problem in the museum lies.  They are trying to convey too much information which means you could be in there for literally hours trying to read all the info throughout the exhibits.  I would have liked to see more interactive and visual representation and less writing, but what is there and gets conveyed has a very powerful and moving message.  My intention isn't for this post to contain anywhere close to the same amount of writing but to rather be more of a photographic tour.  

When visitors arrive at the museum your entry ticket randomly classify you as White or Non-White which then dictates to you which entrance to use.... unless you want to be defiant...

I was hugely impressed with the exhibition celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela.  I realize that the Apartheid struggle was so much more and bigger than Madiba himself, but he is the one who shaped the transition into a new democratic South Africa peacefully and deserves all the credit he is given as such.  Plus even though us South Africans may sometimes feel a bit of a Mandela overload, that is what international visitors want to see.

The Mandela exhibit contains not just a lot of information on Madiba's life but also photos and artifacts like his boxing gloves in the above picture.  The Mandela Museum in Mthatha contains a lot of artifacts pertaining to his life and I would really have liked to see this exhibition having more of that as well, but what they had did had visitors glued to the exhibition.

Photographs are not ordinarily allowed in the museum but I was very fortunate that my visit was organized by Gauteng Tourism and I received media accreditation on my arrival allowing me to take photos.  The guy in the photograph is an security guard who saw my camera and very politely reminded me that photographs weren't allowed.  I showed him the accreditation card I was given and immediately told him that I wanted to take a picture and needed a human subject in it.  As there was nobody else around at that stage I roped him in and after some directing I got the pic I wanted.

One of my favorite parts of the museum was as you exited the Mandela exhibition.  There was a number of Madiba quotes divided into categories.  Visitors are then encouraged to select their preferred quote and take a stick of that colour to place in bins in the garden just outside.  I selected the following one:

Non-Racialism

"I detest racialism

because I regard it as a

barbaric thing, whether

it comes from a black

man or a white man." 

I made sure I got to the museum just after opening time so that I could make my way through before the crowds arrived.  As a South African I know most of the history of the Apartheid era so I didn't spend that much time reading through the info.  I rather made sure that I got to see all the other exhibits and try to get photos of it before to many people arrived. 

One of the most striking visual parts of the exhibition for me was a Police Casspir which formed part of an exhibit on the 1976 student uprising.  Imagine one of these coming at you. 

I don't want to end off the post with the usual "I really would like to encourage everybody to try and visit the museum at least once" because it gets a little cliché but, you know what, I would really like to encourage everybody to visit the museum at least once.  It contains a wealth of information and history, which could be a slight information overload if you overdo it, but I promise you that even if you think you knew it all you will still learn something or at least be moved in some way.   

Disclosure: I was in Johannesburg as a guest of the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa as one of the judges of the Lilizela Tourism Awards.  My visit to the Apartheid Museum was organized by Gauteng Tourism.  I received no further remuneration and keep full editorial control over the post.  

Soweto landscape

A typical Soweto landscape with the Orlando Towers in the background and a couple of minibus taxi's thrown in for good measure, photographed from the Hector Pieterson Memorial.

Grabbing a taxi (tour) to Soweto

Johannesburg really surprised me while on the City Sightseeing Tour of the city.  The problem is that I wanted more and got myself a ticket to do the Soweto Tour Extension the next morning.  I was up bright and early and made my way down to Gold Reef City to hop on the first vehicle of the day.  The guide for the morning was the very delightful Brenda and I was joined by a couple of Brits, a German and two Brazilians.  Soweto here we come.  The first stop was outside Soccer City (FNB Stadium) where we had the opportunity to hop out for a couple of pictures followed shortly after by a stop at the "famous" Welcome to Soweto sign. 

 

For most of the tour the well know painted Orlando Towers dominated the skyline and one can't help but to keep glancing at them in amazement.  The stand out above the township, literally and figuratively.  The cooling towers have become an activity center with a 70 meter bungee jump from the top.  We fortunately unfortunately didn't have time to stop for that....

The first major stop of the tour was at the Hector Pietersen Memorial and Museum.  We were met by a community guide who took us around the memorial and told us a bit more about the tragic incident that led to this memorial.  The site is just a few blocks from where the 12-year-old Hector Pieterson was shot on 16 June 1976 during the Soweto uprising when high school students from the township took to the streets in a peaceful protest against the mandatory use of Afrikaans as a language of instruction in black secondary schools.  The iconic photograph of Pieterson’s body being carried by high school student Mbuyisa Makhubo, with his sister, Antoinette Sithole, running alongside, became a graphic representation of repression under the apartheid regime.  The tour gives you the option to either continue on foot along with the community guide to Vilakazi Street or to stay on the bus.  I opted to go on foot and as we went along the guide pointed out the significant sites one sees along the way.

Vilakazi Street is a hive of activity.  Tourists and traders everywhere.  The main attraction here is Mandela House while just down the road you will find some of the most popular eateries in the township.  You'll also get a glance of Desmond Tutu's house, making Vilakazi Street the only one in the world where two Nobel Peace Laureates used to live.  I had about an hour before the next tour bus came by so I had a look around Mandela House.  The museum wasn't open yet during my last visit to Soweto so it was great to see the house Madiba and his family lived.  As I had an afternoon flight to catch I decided to skip having a meal but in hindsight perhaps I should have and I probably would have if I had a travel companion on this day.  When the next City Sightseeing combi came by I hopped back on and we were off to the last stop of the day.  This time at Walter Sisulu (Freedom) Square in Kliptown.  Here another community guide met me and took me to the Kliptown Open Air Museum that tells the story of the Freedom Charter.  It was here in 1955 that 300 people came together to adopt the Freedom Charter.  Again time constraints made me decided to jump back on the vehicle and not to explore while waiting for the next one.  I won't say I'm sorry I didn't, but if you do its a great way to get to know Soweto and its people, places and cultures a bit better.

Not long after we were back at Gold Reef City and it was the end of my tour.  A tour all visitors to Johannesburg should actually go on because you can't truly say you've been to Jozi if you haven't been to Soweto.

Disclosure: I was in Johannesburg as a guest of the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa as one of the judges of the Lilizela Tourism Awards.  My tour of Soweto was as guest of City Sightseeing Joburg.   I received no further remuneration and keep full editorial control over the post.  

My Mandela House selfie

I recently had the privilege to go on a Soweto Tour with City Sightseeing Joburg and one of our stops was Mandela House in Vilakazi Street.  Last time I was in Soweto they were still busy with the renovations on the house so I took the opportunity to visit and have a look.  There are various quotes throughout the house and decided to do a double whammy with this picture, taking a selfie while getting the quote on the window.

The significance of posting this today is that it is the one year anniversary of the death of Nelson Mandela.  Mandela truly gave his life for the betterment of all in South Africa and making the transition peacefully while others wanted to do it otherwise.  For that I have all the respect in the world for this man and as a tribute I post this picture today.  My Mandela House selfie. 

The Constitutional Court and the Joburg skyline

The Constitution Court is the highest court in South Africa and is situated on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg.  Surrounded by what used to be the Number 4 Prison, the Old Fort and the Women's Jail, the court forms part of Constitution Hill and can be visited while on a tour of the precinct.  I didn't get to go on the tour - it's a long story which I have told before - but I did take a stroll around and ended up on the Old Fort wall allowing me to get this picture of the court (in the middle of the pic) with a bit of Joburg's skyline in the background.

Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto

The Hector Pieterson Memorial is one of Soweto's iconic sites and a popular stop on a tour of the township.  The Memorial along with the Hector Pieterson Museum is situated in Orlando West and commemorate the role of the country’s students in the struggle against apartheid.  The site is just a few blocks from where the 12-year-old Hector Pieterson was shot on 16 June 1976 during the Soweto uprising when high school students from the township took to the streets in a peaceful protest against the mandatory use of Afrikaans as a language of instruction in black secondary schools.  The iconic photograph of Pieterson’s body being carried by high school student Mbuyisa Makhubo, with his sister, Antoinette Sithole, running alongside, became a graphic representation of repression under the apartheid regime.

I've been to the memorial and museum before but got to visit again while on a City Sightseeing Tour of Soweto.  This time around I gave the museum a skip due to time constraints but the memorial is definitively a must see stop when in Soweto.

Standing on top of Africa's highest building

I got to say "I'm on top of the world". Well sort of.  At least I can say I was on top of the tallest building in Africa.  Exploring Johannesburg on the City Sightseeing tour I was quite keen to visit the Carlton Centre in downtown Jozi.  Time allowed it and I hopped off along with a couple of my fellow travelers to head up, up, up.

The great part of being on the City Sightseer tour is that they have a guide permanently based at the Carlton Centre who takes you through the shopping centre and up to the top.  Entrance tickets are only R15 per person and the trip up the express elevator to the 50th floor literally takes seconds.  Once at the top the guide took us around showing us the 360 degree view down, and I mean literally down, onto Joburg.  The Carlton Centre is the tallest building in Africa (I think I've said that already) and once the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.  It stands 223m high and was built between 1967 and 1974.  The view is absolutely magnificent and the guide comes in very handy as he points out all the interesting landmarks as you move around the viewing windows.  A great perk of the open bus tour.  He also makes sure that you get back down and to the bus stop before the next bus comes by.  I have to be honest.  If I didn't go on the tour I probably would never have had the opportunity to do this so just another great reason to get your ticket for a City Sightseeing Joburg tour when you are in the City of Gold.

 

Disclosure: I was in Johannesburg as a guest of the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa as one of the judges of the Lilizela Tourism Awards. 

My tour with City Sightseeing Joburg was organized by Gauteng Tourism. 

FNB Soccer City - The Calabash

If you are into soccer (or football as they call it in Europe), then you would at least have heard of the FNB Stadium.  Also called Soccer City and The Calabash, the stadium is seen as South Africa's main soccer venue and is situated next to Soweto in Johannesburg.  The stadium has a capacity of 94 736 making it the largest in Africa.  Significantly it was the site of Nelson Mandela's first speech in Johannesburg after he was released from prison in 1990 while it also hosted a massive memorial service to him after his death.

 

The stadium was designed to look like a calabash, or African clay pot, from the outside.  The cladding on the outside is a mosaic of fire and earthen colours and at night there is a ring of lights around the bottom of the structure which makes it look like there is a fire underneath the pot.

 

The stadium hosted the finals of both the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2013 African Cup of Nations but has also played host to major rugby matches and many top music concerts.  I've never had the privilege to go to a match at the FNB Stadium but its a little difficult being based over 1000 kilometers away.  Perhaps some day though. 

The Flame of Democracy

Constitution Hill is one of Johannesburg's most prominent heritage sites.  It is the home of South Africa's Constitutional Court, the highest court in the country, and is located on the site of a number of prisons dating back to the Apartheid years.  One of these prisons were Number 4 Prison (the other two were the Old Fort and the Women's Jail)  where a lot of awaiting trail prisoners were kept during those years.  Although most of the old prison buildings are no more, some of the stairwells were kept and made part of the new precinct as a reminder of the dark days of oppression.  The Flame of Democracy is found in one of these stairwells and was established to celebrate 15 years since the signing of the constitution.  The flame was originally lit by Nelson Mandela in his birth place in Qunu and transported to Johannesburg where it was placed in this significant spot, never to be extinguished again. 

I really enjoy visiting places like this and I wish more South Africans would.  In the USA a place like this would receive the biggest regard and respect by visitors who will make sure to include it in their itineraries and I can't see why it shouldn't be any different in South Africa.

Exploring Jozi with the City Sightseeing open top bus

My visits to Johannesburg have always been ones of in and out, with very little sightseeing connected with it.  Wham, bang, thank you ma'am.  This means that I always look at the Joburg travel bloggers' blogs with longing wanting to see the places they write about.  A two day trip to Johannesburg meant that I had some time on my hands to explore and a couple of calls later I had a reference number in my hand to join City Sightseeing Joburg for a tour of the city.  City Sightseeing Joburg offers tours in their red open top buses along a set route and at scheduled times.  This would allow me the freedom to get off and explore along the way, knowing what time the next bus came by to hop back on.  The starting points for the tours are the Gauteng Park Station and Gold Reef City while there are a total of 12 stops along the way where you can get off and visit an attractions or go for a bit of a walk. 

I was on the red eye flight from Port Elizabeth to Jozi and as soon as I got my car I headed over to Gold Reef City in the hope that I would be in time to catch the first bus of the day.  Pulling into the parking lot on the hotel and casino side I spotted the red bus and seeing that I had 5 minutes before departure I headed straight to it.  Eugene, the driver, met me with the biggest smile of the day.  During the day I landed on his bus another two times and he had that smile every time I saw him.  He printed out my ticket, gave me a brochure showing the route and, more importantly, the time table and offered me a pair of earphones to listen to the on board commentary.  This all while asking me where I was from and giving me some advise on what I just had to see during the day and some timing tips.  The Commentary by the way is done in 16, yes your heard right, 16 languages.  When it was time to get going I took a seat upstairs, popped the earphones in my ears and made use of the on-board wifi to tweet my first picture of the day.  The first of many to come.  The commentary is very informative but not overwhelming.  They tell you everything you need to know and what you see along the way without giving you information overload.

It was impossible to get off at every stop but I knew what I wanted to do.  My first stop was at the Apartheid Museum where Gauteng Tourism had organized entrance for me along with permission to take photos inside the museum.  One can probably spend half a day in the museum, but two hours later I was outside waiting for the next bus while checking all the photos I took.  I will do a photo blogpost about my visit to the museum shortly.  My next stop was in the mining district where I took a walk around to look for a couple of Geocaches I new was in the area.  Too many muggles around meant I came up empty handed and I nearly missed the next bus when I saw it driving towards the busstop which was a good 400 meters from me.  A flat out run and a waving arm caught the driver's attention and he waited for me at the stop. 

 

I gave Newtown and the Wits University Origins Centre (this one I'll definitively visit some time in the future) a miss and got off at Constitution Hill where entrance was also organized for me.  Unfortunately the lady at reception didn't know I was coming and to quote her, "If I don't know you're coming then it wasn't organized."  Not the friendliest reception.  She eventually agreed to find out who knew about my visit but 30 minutes later when I went to ask her if she had found anything out yet her answer was, "What did you want again?"  I immediately walked out and boarded the next bus.  Very sad that I didn't get to see what I am told is a very special place, but it also meant I would now have time for a visit to the Carlton Centre.  The Carlton Centre is the tallest building in Africa and the passengers who got off was met by a guide from City Sightseeing and we were taken to the observation deck at the top of the building.  The view from up here is literally a bird's eye view and I will write about it in another post as well. 

 

Unfortunately for me the hotel I was staying at wasn't at Gold Reef City so I had to head back towards my car so that I could go and check in before getting ready for the Lilizela Awards I was in town for.  I was very happy with what I got to see and learn, but I will have to come back to visit Newtown and Maboneng at some stage as these two areas are now at the top of my "Joburg to do list".  After this day I can say with conviction that City Sightseeing Joburg is the best way to explore Johannesburg without any worries of getting lost, getting all the info you need and feeling safe and secure.

 

Disclosure: I was in Johannesburg as a guest of the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa as one of the judges of the Lilizela Tourism Awards.  My tour with City Sightseeing Joburg and visit to the Apartheid Museum was organized by Gauteng Tourism. 

The new kid on the Jozi skyline

The Nizamiye Turish Masjid - or Midrand Mosque -  has made a big impact on the Johannesburg, and in particular Midrand, skyline.  The mosque with its 55 meter high minarets is the brainchild of retired Turkish property developer Ali Katircioglu (known as “Uncle Ali”) and was modelled on the Selimiye Camisi mosque in Edirne, Turkey.

Mushroom Farm Park - greening urban areas

Johannesburg boasts that it's the world's largest man-made urban forest and that's difficult to imagine until one actually visits the city and see how many open spaces, parks and nature reserves there are.  One of these parks is Mushroom Farm Park in Sandton.  I've passed here a couple of times before but visited for the first time on my last visit to the City of Gold. 

Sandton started out in the 1930's as farms and estates and only transform from a farming community to a business district in 1973 when Sandton City was built.  In the 1990's it became part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality at the time when there was quite a boom in development which seemingly hasn't stopped yet.  I haven't found any history on why the area is called Mushroom Farm, but in 2006 during the construction of the Gautrain a shaft was sunk here to access the underground tunnelling operations. 

After the completion of the Gautrain development, rehabilitation of the area started by representatives of the developers.  The terrain has been landscaped, new pathways have been laid, a children's play area created, irrigation and pathway lighting installed, topsoil introduced, the waterways have been cleared and new indigenous flora was plated.  Most of this have now been well established and the park is looking stunning.  On my visit the park was being utilised by both families and business people taking a break away from the hustle and bustle of their offices.  I imagine there will be a couple more people using the park late afternoons after the end of business as well as on weekend, specially those living in apartments in the area.

There is an aerial balloon in the park in which visitors can go up to 120 meter for a lovely view of surrounding Sandton and Johannesburg in the distance.  The Mushroom Farm Park is a prime example of what can be done in urban areas by municipalities in partnership with the private sector when there is a will to do so.

Celebrating Youth Day

16 June is National Youth Day in South Africa. 

It is a day on which the country not only remembers the youth of 1976 and the significant role they played in bringing about the freedom South Africa enjoys today, but also celebrating the freedom won and the youth of today.

On this day in 1976, Soweto high school students took to the streets in a peaceful protest against the mandatory use of Afrikaans as a language of instruction in black secondary schools.  The students planned to meet at Orlando Stadium before marching to the regional offices of the Department of Bantu Education, where they intended raising their grievances with the authorities.

 

On the way to the stadium, they were met by the police, who ordered them to end the march and disperse. A violent confrontation ensued, in which students threw stones and police fired shots. News of the events in Soweto soon spread, igniting uprisings around the country in which more than 550 people died.

One of the first to die on this tragic day in 1976 was 13 year old Hector Pieterson.

Sam Nzima, a photographer for The World newspaper in Johannesburg, was in Soweto, covering the riots. His iconic image (seen as part of the Hector Pieterson Memorial in the picture above) of Pieterson’s body being carried by high school student Mbuyisa Makhubo, with his sister, Antoinette Sithole, running alongside, is a graphic representation of repression under the apartheid regime.

In the early 1990s, the Hector Pieterson Memorial was built on Khumalo Street, not far from where Pieterson was shot. On 16 June 2002, the Hector Pieterson Museum opened on Maseko Street, Orlando West. The museum, dedicated to preserving the memory of the 1976 uprising, is home to a collection of oral testimonies, pictures, audiovisual displays and historical documents relating to the Soweto uprisings. Together with the memorial, it commemorates those who died in the uprisings, and celebrates the students’ role in the struggle for freedom.

The Midrand Mosque

Close to the N1 highway in Midrand between Johannesburg and Pretoria, with views of Sandton and Johannesburg in the distance, stands the magnificent Nizamiye Turish Masjid.  And magnificent it truly is.  The mosque is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and was built as an Ottoman structure and modelled on the Selimiye Camisi mosque in Edirne, Turkey (completed in 1574 and today a Unesco World Heritage Site).  The project was the brainchild of Ali Katircioglu (known as “Uncle Ali”), a 74-year old, retired Turkish property developer, who initially wanted to take it to the United State of America. After struggling to find a suitable site he was advised by a friend to rather bring the project to South Africa.

 

I would have loved to have seen the inside of the mosque, but only had time to snap a couple of pictures from outside.  Inside will have to wait for another visit.  The Mosque has a main dome (covered with 48 tons of lead) that is 31m high and 24m wide as well as a further 4 half domes and 21 smaller domes.  Inside the mosque there is authentic Turkish ceramics on the walls and calligraphy on the ceiling.  The dome is patterned with Turkish art and the custom made carpet below it is a reflection of it.  The 4 minarets are 55m and only three metres in diameter but contain two concrete spiral staircases, running one above the other – one up, one down.  The mosque also has 232 stained glass windows. 

 

Up to 6000 people can be accommodated per service in the central men's prayer hall and women's prayer gallery.  On special occasions the mosque is lit up in luminescent green and purple at night which is something I didn't get to see otherwise there would have been a picture of it up here.  Except for the mosque itself, the complex also houses a clinic, a four-storey sama (school) for 850 learners and an arasta (row of shops and restaurant). 

 

The mosque has truly changed the landscape of Midrand and has become a landmark that can't and shouldn't be missed.

Jozi skyline

South Africa has two very recognisable skylines.  The one is Cape Town with Table Mountain and the other is the Johannesburg skyline, easily identified with the Hillbrow Tower in the middle.  The picture was taken from Midrand, north of the city.

The Madiba statue in Nelson Mandela Square

Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton City must be one of the most popular attractions in Johannesburg.  Everybody seems to stop at Sandton City to go shopping and then make sure that they swing by Madiba's statue for a picture.  On a busy day its actually quite difficult to get a pic of the statue without anybody next to it.  I've posted about Nelson Mandela Square before (2008, 2009 and 2010), but on my last visit to Johannesburg I couldn't help but to snap a couple more pictures of it. 

Nelson Mandela's statue in the Square was sculpted by Kobus Hattingh and Jacob Maponyane, weighs 2,5 tons and measures 2,3 metres from elbow to elbow.  The shoulders of the statue are 1.7 metres in width and the shoes are 1 metre in length.

Botanical Garden flower

The remains of a Red Hot Poker next to the pathway 

in the Walter Sesulu Botanical Garden in Johannesburg

Walter Sesulu Botanical Garden

There is always something new to see even if one has been to a place many times.  This is even true of one's own home town, but this isn't a story on my home town.  There is so much I haven't seen around Johannesburg and Gauteng, but I don't always have a lot of free time when I am up there to go exploring.  My last trip to Jozi left me an open morning and I decided to go and visit the Walter Sesulu Botanical Garden.  Although the botanical garden was only founded in 1982, the area has been a popular picnic spot since the late 1800's already.  Back in those days Johannesburgers would go by train as far as the Witpoortjie Station and walk down to the waterfall for a day of leisure.  And it was said waterfall I was actually here to see.   

The natural vegetation of the area is known as the 'Rocky Highveld Grassland' and is a mixture of grassland and savanna, with dense bush in the kloofs and along streams. The botanical garden accommodates over 600 naturally occurring plant species with various walks and trails that visitors can explore.  I especially liked the variety of succulents that was planted around a couple of the pathways.

The main path into the gardens took me all the way to the Witpoortjie Waterfall, named after the nearby railway station.  Not quite sure why they would have done that though.  The grassy area in front of the waterfall is a popular picnic spot with a lot of people going there with the hope to see the resident pair of rare Verreaux’s eagles that nest on the steep, inaccessible cliff next to the waterfall. 

Verreaux’s eagles are spectacular birds of prey, with a wingspan that extends to over 2m.  The pairs are monogamous and stay together, nesting on the same spot year after year.  A couple of years ago the male eagle disappeared, followed shortly after by the female.  It was feared that the carefully monitored 40-year breeding programme would end, but the female miraculously reappeared with a young male as a companion.

Witpoortjiewaterval

Die Witpoortjiewaterval is die fokuspunt van die Walter Sisulu- Botaniese Tuin in Johannesburg.  Die tuin is 'n baie gewilde piekniekplek en besoekers hou gewoonlik hulle oë baie wyd oop om te sien of hulle dalk die broeipaar Verreaux arende wat langs die waterval nesmaak kan gewaar.

Nelson Mandela Square

Nelson Mandela Square is geleë in die hartjie van Sandton, Johannesburg en die fokuspunt van Nelson Mandela Square is 'n ses meter hoë brons standbeeld van die bekende staatsman homself.  Die standbeeld is in 2004 onthul om nie net die tiende verjaardag van Sandton City winkelsentrum te vier nie, maar ook 10 jaar van demokrasie.

Die standbeeld self staan nie net ses meter hoog nie, maar weeg ook 2,5 ton.  Ek wonder of Kobus Hatting en Jacob Maponyane, die kunstenaars verantwoordelik vir die standbeeld, ooit gedink het dat dit seker die mees gefotografeerde standbeeld in Suid-Afrika sou word.