Guided Tour of Soweto Township
(written 09/15/07)
Most people have heard of Soweto: the SOuth WEst TOwnship just outside Johannesburg. For several decades, Soweto was the epicenter of the struggle against apartheid—home to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, home to many of the liberation protests, and home to much of the violence leading up to the end of the apartheid regime. Before even landing on the continent, I had already researched day tours to Soweto. I knew this was something I must do while here.
So…that’s what I did today. I was accompanied by a fellow traveler—Marco, a medical student from Switzerland. I met him at the hostel, told him about the tour, and he decided to come along as well. Turns out, it was just the two of us.
The Mysterious Car Caper
The transportation for the tour was amusingly odd. We were picked up at the hostel by man in a formal suit driving a shiny new Mercedes sedan. Marco and I exchanged bewildered glances. This was not what we were expecting. (After all, the tour cost just over $50 for an entire day).
We chitchatted with the driver, Johannes, as we drove through Johannesburg and over to Soweto (stopping at the entrance of the township to snap this photograph). We then rounded the corner to find a different man, David, waiting for us in a spiffy new Mercedes mini-van. At that point, we changed cars and continued on the tour.
Later that afternoon, as Marco and I emerged from the Apartheid Museum, we were greeted by yet another vehicle for the next leg of our tour, this one a very large 16 passenger van. And we were back with Johannes. Very odd.
I was disappointed that we didn’t have at least one more stop on the tour because based on the vehicular direction we were headed, the next ride would’ve been a big rig.
Anyway, we saw a lot. Here’s just a few of the stops:
Nelson Mandela’s family home
This was the house he lived in before he was sent to Robben Island. It was fire-bombed twice by the secret police. Very small, and had no indoor plumbing when he lived there.
Soweto Neighborhoods
We spent quite a bit of time just exploring the range of Soweto’s neighborhoods—from the one small middle class neighborhood(with homes on par with the average mid-sized Phoenix home) to the sprawling poor neighborhoods (comprising the majority of Soweto) and then to the shockingly destitute neighborhoods.
Here are some images from one of the poorest sections:
Hector Pieterson memorial
We also stopped at a monument commemorating Hector Pieterson, a 13 year old student who was killed when police opened fire on a peaceful student protest in 1976. The whole scene was captured on film and shown throughout the world. Killing an unarmed 13 year old boy doesn’t do much for a country’s image, and this clip sparked a huge international outcry against the apartheid regime, eventually leading to widespread international sanctions against South Africa. Hector’s killing was also a last straw for many black South Africans, and protest activities became much more intense after his death.
Our guide, David, was a student at the school where the shooting took place, and he was there at the protest that day. It was fantastic to hear about these events from an actual eyewitness to history.
Orlando Power Station
Carla, I included this one for you, since I kept seeing “The Orlando Power Station—featured on The Amazing Race”. Did you see that episode?
During apartheid, this coal power plant produced power solely for white areas, leaving only a thick, black cloud of pollution for Soweto. Soon after becoming president, Nelson Mandela (who had lived in Soweto) shut down the plant.
Apartheid Museum
After visiting Soweto, Marco and I passed several hours trying to better understand what we’d just seen in Soweto through the exhibits at the Apartheid Museum. layout and style reminded me very much of the Holocaust Museum in LA, starting with the separate entrances for "whites" and "non-whites".
The museum reviewed the foundations of apartheid and daily life under the system.
All facets of apartheid were reviewed, from the homelands to the pass laws to the protests to the international sanctions to Mandela’s release to the transition to democracy… It was an overwhelming amount of information, as dizzying as the previous sentence. I was mentally drained and emotionally numb afterward. I still don’t feel like I have a good handle on what actually happened here over the last century. Maybe in time.
So…This is where, structure wise, I am supposed to give some concluding paragraph about the day, wrap it all up for the reader. But I’m not sure what to say about all this. It’s shocking, confusing, sad.
I can’t form conclusions yet, not even concluding paragraphs.
Most people have heard of Soweto: the SOuth WEst TOwnship just outside Johannesburg. For several decades, Soweto was the epicenter of the struggle against apartheid—home to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, home to many of the liberation protests, and home to much of the violence leading up to the end of the apartheid regime. Before even landing on the continent, I had already researched day tours to Soweto. I knew this was something I must do while here.
So…that’s what I did today. I was accompanied by a fellow traveler—Marco, a medical student from Switzerland. I met him at the hostel, told him about the tour, and he decided to come along as well. Turns out, it was just the two of us.
The Mysterious Car Caper
The transportation for the tour was amusingly odd. We were picked up at the hostel by man in a formal suit driving a shiny new Mercedes sedan. Marco and I exchanged bewildered glances. This was not what we were expecting. (After all, the tour cost just over $50 for an entire day).
We chitchatted with the driver, Johannes, as we drove through Johannesburg and over to Soweto (stopping at the entrance of the township to snap this photograph). We then rounded the corner to find a different man, David, waiting for us in a spiffy new Mercedes mini-van. At that point, we changed cars and continued on the tour. Later that afternoon, as Marco and I emerged from the Apartheid Museum, we were greeted by yet another vehicle for the next leg of our tour, this one a very large 16 passenger van. And we were back with Johannes. Very odd.
I was disappointed that we didn’t have at least one more stop on the tour because based on the vehicular direction we were headed, the next ride would’ve been a big rig.
Anyway, we saw a lot. Here’s just a few of the stops:
Nelson Mandela’s family home
This was the house he lived in before he was sent to Robben Island. It was fire-bombed twice by the secret police. Very small, and had no indoor plumbing when he lived there.
Soweto Neighborhoods
We spent quite a bit of time just exploring the range of Soweto’s neighborhoods—from the one small middle class neighborhood(with homes on par with the average mid-sized Phoenix home) to the sprawling poor neighborhoods (comprising the majority of Soweto) and then to the shockingly destitute neighborhoods.
Here are some images from one of the poorest sections:
Hector Pieterson memorial
We also stopped at a monument commemorating Hector Pieterson, a 13 year old student who was killed when police opened fire on a peaceful student protest in 1976. The whole scene was captured on film and shown throughout the world. Killing an unarmed 13 year old boy doesn’t do much for a country’s image, and this clip sparked a huge international outcry against the apartheid regime, eventually leading to widespread international sanctions against South Africa. Hector’s killing was also a last straw for many black South Africans, and protest activities became much more intense after his death.
Our guide, David, was a student at the school where the shooting took place, and he was there at the protest that day. It was fantastic to hear about these events from an actual eyewitness to history.
Orlando Power StationCarla, I included this one for you, since I kept seeing “The Orlando Power Station—featured on The Amazing Race”. Did you see that episode?
During apartheid, this coal power plant produced power solely for white areas, leaving only a thick, black cloud of pollution for Soweto. Soon after becoming president, Nelson Mandela (who had lived in Soweto) shut down the plant.
Apartheid Museum
After visiting Soweto, Marco and I passed several hours trying to better understand what we’d just seen in Soweto through the exhibits at the Apartheid Museum. layout and style reminded me very much of the Holocaust Museum in LA, starting with the separate entrances for "whites" and "non-whites".
The museum reviewed the foundations of apartheid and daily life under the system.
All facets of apartheid were reviewed, from the homelands to the pass laws to the protests to the international sanctions to Mandela’s release to the transition to democracy… It was an overwhelming amount of information, as dizzying as the previous sentence. I was mentally drained and emotionally numb afterward. I still don’t feel like I have a good handle on what actually happened here over the last century. Maybe in time. So…This is where, structure wise, I am supposed to give some concluding paragraph about the day, wrap it all up for the reader. But I’m not sure what to say about all this. It’s shocking, confusing, sad.
I can’t form conclusions yet, not even concluding paragraphs.