By Okorie Uguru
Johannesburg, a city in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, is probably the most important city in the country. It is the economic heartbeat of the country and reputed to be an area with one of the highest deposit of gold in the world. Johannesburg today is a city brimming with a contrast of affluence and squalor.
The city was founded in 1886 after the discovery of a large deposit of gold in the area. The riches in the bowel of the earth attracted thousands of early settlers who came in search of riches beyond imagination.
Close to 150 years later, the city has evolved, passing through the challenges and repression of apartheid policy of the white ruling class to become one of the most affluent mega cities in the world.
Talking about the abolished apartheid policy of South Africa years back, one part of Johannesburg still carries the scars of apartheid with pride. It is the ‘South Western Town’ also known as Soweto. Soweto is a testament of resilience, doggedness and indefatigability of the human spirit.
Soweto, about 24 kilometres from Johannesburg, was created to enclose the South African black into a particular area in Johannesburg and they were forbidden from entering Johannesburg at the risk of being imprisoned.
With the abolition of apartheid in 1994 when South Africa swore in her first democratically elected black African president, the late Dr. Nelson Mandela, blacks could live anywhere in the country, but Soweto up till now, still maintains its distinct identity as low income workers’ home.
Soweto, the ’Black Town’ in the South West of Johannesburg city was established in the 1930s with simple houses built for low income black population who were moving to Johannesburg to work in the mines. It grew significantly during the apartheid era and became the symbol of the struggle against racial segregation. During the apartheid era, blacks from other communities were forcefully relocated from other parts of Johannesburg to Soweto.
A visit to South Africa could be said not to be complete without visiting Soweto, which still has some of the apartheid era houses.
Due to the apartheid policy of forcing blacks to live in Soweto, some of the key personalities in the struggle for the abolition of apartheid came from Soweto, so also some of the key events that shaped the struggle for the abolition of apartheid. This includes the 1976 students uprising against apartheid with the iconic picture of a dying student, Hector Pieterson. It was a turning point for the struggle against apartheid.
Soweto, now much better than it was in the apartheid era, still has simple houses mostly made for sleeping and waking with no aesthetics. But there are equally well designed homes.
When tourists visit these historical sites in Soweto, the biggest draw is Vilakazi Street, the home of two world-renowned anti-apartheid and human rights activists.
Because many of the leaders of the anti-apartheid struggle were blacks, they lived in Soweto. Former South African President, Dr. Nelson Mandela and former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town and Johannesburg, Archbishop Desmond Tutu lived on Vilakazi Street. So, tourists flock to street to see their houses.
South Africa takes pride in marketing Vilakazi Street as the only street in the world that can lay claim to having two Nobel Laureates as residents .
Vilakazi Street is like any other street in Soweto, but the presence of the homes of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Dr. Nelson Mandela makes it a must-visit for every tourist.
Desmond Tutu’s house is on the left of the street while entering. It has high walls with tall lush trees giving the house a kind of privacy, away from the prying eyes of inquisitive tourists.
Just less than 50 metres away from Desmond Tutu’s house on the right of the street is number 8115. That is the old home of Dr. Mandela. Although he had relocated from here to Johannesburg long before he died, the house has been turned into a museum where visitors can see some of the personal items of the legendary anti-apartheid crusader.
The street, from the beginning to the end, is a beehive of activities as many locals are engaged in catering to the need of the large number of tourists.
In front of House 8115, the home of Mandela are a number of locals milling around the place either to sell souvenirs, entertain the tourists with dance for a few coins and generally offer one form of entertainment or the other. Gift shops for handcrafts and other souvenirs are common on the street.
There are also restaurants located on Vilakazi Street near the Mandela House Museum. One of the restaurants, Sakhumzi is said to have started from a group of friends gathering to tell stories and build friendships. In most cases, hunger would kick in and the smell of delicious meal being cooked in Sakhumzi Maqubela’s home would tempt these friends.
With time, in the true spirit of uBuntu, everyone began to contribute the ingredients and drinks and before long the lounge had become an informal restaurant where traditional cuisines are served. To actually feel the essence of South Africa, Soweto is almost a must visit.