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. 

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.

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. 

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.