There are virtually no American tourists in South Africa. I met many Europeans in my two weeks on the continent.. Italians, French, Germans, and Brits. Only on my flight back to the states did I meet a fellow American from San Diego. Not sure if it’s the cost of travel or the distance that keeps us away.
I spent a couple days in Johannesburg before moving on to Namibia. One of the first things I learned about Joburg is how huge it is. It’s a big sprawling city. The Apartheid Museum is a moving 3 hours not to be missed, but the most fascinating part of town is the lower class urban area of Soweto.
Soweto historically began as housing for workers in the mining industry. Then in 1948 with Apartheid, Soweto became the destination of choice for forced removals of blacks from legally-designated white areas. Some were destined to live in same-sex housing funded by the government while others basically squatted in shanty towns with no running water, electricity or other basic services.
Today’s Soweto looks less like the photo above. You’ll still see areas of tin shacks built from found materials, but fewer and fewer of Soweto’s 1.3 million are living under these conditions. The abolishment of Apartheid in 1991 has given it’s population the ability to own their own homes. The government has also built better housing in the area. In fact, the past ten years has seen the rise of some pretty swanky homes in Soweto.
As I toured the area I ran into these ladies on their way to church. In the past Soweto residence had to rely on marquees or tent churches to gather for services. Now they have permanent structures to do so. Schools, playgrounds, and parks have also been established in recent years. I found much hope in the Soweto. It’s people warm and welcoming.
Nowhere else on earth will you find a street that housed two Nobel Prize winners. On Vilakazi Street sits the former homes of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In an extract from his book, Long Walk To Freedom, Mandela describes how he felt after returning to his home on Vilakazi with his then wife Winne Mandela after 27 years in prison.
“That night I returned with Winnie to No. 8115 in Orlando West. It was only then that I knew in my heart I had left prison. For me, No. 8115 was the centre point of my world, the place marked with an X in my mental geography.”
Another inspiring story to come out of Soweto is that of Hector Pieterson. June 16, 1976 began with a march by 10,000 students carrying banners with slogans saying, “Down with Afrikaans” and “Viva Azania” (the name given to South Africa by black nationalists). Students were protesting against the compulsory use of Afrikaans as the main teaching language in black schools. Many of the teachers themselves didn’t know the Afrikaans language.
What started out as a well-organized peaceful demonstration initiated by secondary school children (12 and 13 year olds) turned to rioting when police arrived. In the end, 500 were killed including 12 year old Hector Pieterson.
Some on the scene saw police throw tear gas grenades into the crowd without warning. When demonstrators responded with stones, the officers opened fire. Hector was shot and fell on the corner of Moema and Vilakazi Street. He was picked up by Mbuyisa Makhubo (an 18-year-old schoolboy) who together with Hector’s sister bundled him up, and journalist Sophie Tema drove him to a nearby clinic where he was pronounced dead.
Though the fall of Apartheid was still many years away, the Soweto uprising was a turning point in the liberation of South Africa. When I think of political protests, I generally think of college students or other young adults taking a stand. The organizational skills and courage of these 12 and 13 year old Junior School students blew me away.
The discovery that comes with travel and the path to that knowledge is what I love about traveling. I could have read about all this in a book, but actually being there to see how far the country has come in the past 30 years made much more of an impression. And that was just day one of a two week trip!
Pat Gallagher
