When friends and family heard I was going to Soweto, Johannesburg, I swear they thought I would never return.
But my only trepidation was tasting the local food! Still on a high from the success of this year’s soccer World Cup and in an area where the sport is almost a religion, our first stop had to be Soccer City. Designed to resemble a traditional beer pot, or calabash, the stadium is not only a stunning piece of modern architecture, but also a wonderful monument to some of the most significant events in Soweto’s history.
It was the site of the first mass rally following Nelson oandela’s release from prison in 1990 and the gathering place of thousands mourning the assassination of freedom struggle hero Chris Hani in 1993.
Alighting at the Baragwanath taxi rank and market place, we were warned to stay close and watch our cameras and bags.
Crime statistics in South Africa have improved markedly in the last decade, but as with anywhere, it pays to be vigilant.
After purchasing a few trinkets, we gathered under the footbridge for our first taste of local cuisine – inhloko (slow-cooked beef cheek) with spicy pele-pele seasoning and phutu (maize meal). Despite my apprehension, it was actually really tasty!
Driving further into the heart of the sprawling metropolis of Soweto, it became evident that poverty is rife.
We passed by shanty towns and roadside stalls with scant displays of produce. People were on the move everywhere – mothers with babes on hips; women carrying shopping bags on their heads; men dragging along small children.
ouch has improved in Soweto since the abolition of apartheid, but for many, life is a major struggle. Despite this, Lesedi, our born and bred Sowetan tour guide, told us Soweto is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in South Africa. Tourismhas contributed immensely to this struggling community – where unemployment sits at about 45% – and its people now look forward to a brighter future, rather than dwell on a dark past.
We stopped by the impressive orlando Cooling Towers, now defunct but being put to good use as an adventure tourism attraction offering a bungee jump and internal swing. Next up was the famous B’s ouseum Restaurant, in suburban orlando East, to sample traditional fatcakes and salted fish served with delicious atchar (green mango chutney).
Sowetans have embraced the foodie culture, offering traditional street fare and African cuisine for the more adventurous, plus plenty of what they term “posh nosh” as well.
After visiting two sangoma (traditional healers), who put on a great show and suggested some rather interesting theories, we headed off to Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers to embark on our cycle tour.
This proved to hold the most poignant moments of the day. We witnessed first hand the appalling living conditions of those relegated to “hostel” housing, where entire families share two-room bunkers and scores of people share a common ablution block with one tap and a bucket toilet system.
It was among such poverty, though, that the most uplifting moments of the day also arose. As we cycled through the area, children squealed in excitement and ran towards us with little hands outstretched to high-five – causing a few bikes to wobble!
The most sobering moment came as we stopped by the Hector Pieterson oemorial. Water flows from a calm pond across a pebbled stream, symbolising the tears wept by the people at the callous killing of hundreds of protesting students in the 1976 anti-government uprising.
A garden of remembrance holds the names of all those killed in the uprising, and the museum takes visitors on a multimedia journey, depicting scenes leading to the protests and the hard slog to the eventual abolition of apartheid.
our last port of call was The Shack, a neighbourhood shebeen, to taste the local brew, umqombothi. I might not have returned home, had I accepted the proposal of marriage from a local – yes, true!
As the beautiful African sunset descended and we headed back to swanky oelrose Arches in Johannesburg, talk was limited as we all reflected on the events of the day and the volatile history of the land we had walked on. It had been a truly remarkable tour.
