Events that changed a country

Famous photo by Sam Nzima of slain schoolboy Hector Pieterson during the Soweto Massacre of 1976. His sister pictured here has been a tour guide at the memorial.
see all photos »

Wednesday - 8:30: Left 1322 Backpackers and made a few stops picking up passengers from other hostels for the days outing. A pleasant surprise was that Holly and Wes from Lesedi were also booked along with Gwen from NYC and a professor from Munich who was in SA doing research. We got stuck in rush hour traffic and was delayed for more than an hour.

Our guide was Francois who gave us a great lesson on some events that shaped the history of South Africa. Drove through downtown Jo'burg. It was a stark contrast to Pretoria. You did not see a white face on the street. According to François, if he let us out in this part of the city, it would be 10 minutes before one of us would be mugged (true or not, still a scary part of town). Too much history to write about apartheid, but the long and short is the codification of the most extreme form of apartheid (Afrikaans word for apartness) occurred in 1948. The museum begins with an outdoor exhibit about the origin of mankind in Southern Africa (San, Khoi Khoi) and the subsequent migration of Bantu speaking Africans from Central Africa. Then the story of Jan van Riebeek and the Dutch establishment of the Cape Colony in 1652. Then a series of events that created white areas, homelands for the black Africans and eventually, the creating of townships near the major cities as a source of cheap labor. The rise of the ANC and Nelson Mandela, jailing of said leaders in 1964, then the watershed event that led to the repeal of apartheid laws... the 1976 Soweto Massacre.  Violent uprising met with even more violent repression and then the writing was on the wall. The apartheid gov’t knew that change was inevitable, opposition parties were unbanned, Mandela was released from prison and SA has embarked on a journey towards democratic elections with Mandela becoming first president of post apartheid SA.

Apartheid Museum
see all photos »

Did not want it to turn into a history lesson, but hard not to when you visit a museum like this in a country like South Africa. All in all a very moving experience.

Holly, Gwen, Wes and I had lunch at the cafe in the museum and then we had a switch of tour guides for the Soweto tour. Our guide was from Soweto so we got a firsthand view of life in the townships. Soweto is not a place but a series of 50 townships (Soweto = South Western Townships located south west of Jo'Burg). Quite a contrast from area to area.  It is not just a township be a series of 50 separate townships with a population of an estimated 4 million people (40% are said to be unemployed). Visited Nelson Mandelas original home which is now a museum. It was closed because of a recent fire. Also drive past the current homes of Winnie Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu which were non-descript.

Joburg skyline
see all photos »

Townships supplied the cheap labor that big cities needed to run under apartheid. Not safe to be in for the most part. They are building a soccer stadium here for the World Cup matches in 2010. South Africa is really counting on the World Cup to vault them into an economically viable country and create a new image of their country.

Visted the Hector Pieterson Memorial while in Soweto. Hector was one the first students to be killed during the 1976 student uprising. He has since become a symbol of youth resistance to apartheid. The uprising started on 16 June as a peaceful protest march organized by school students who were upset over the introduction of lessons taught in Afrikaans (seen as the language of the oppressor) in all African schools.  This memorial to Hector Pieterson was erected on Khumalo Street, a few hundred meters from where he was shot opened in 2002 and houses photographic and audiovisual displays of the struggle of the youth against the injustices of apartheid.

Representing the people killed and tortured during the uprising
see all photos »

Back at 1322, it was time to unwind after a day full of history to digest. I met a new friend, Warren. Warren is from Zimbabwe. His family is descendent from British settlers who immigrated to Zim (Southern Rhodesia at the time) after WWII in search of riches pulled from the mineral deposits laid claim to by Cecil Rhodes. His perspective of Zim was sad. He was an adventure cinematographer who was in Pretoria for some surgery to repair injuries from filming other people sky dive, hunt wild game and whitewater rafting. Then Warren and I were driven to diner in Baboo's BMW. We went to the Spur Steak Ranch. Don't ask me why, but I decided on Chicken Quesadilla's. I guess I missed Taco Bell. Over dinner Warren recounted the dismal fall of Zim from Africa's "Breadbasket" to the joke of the continent in Mugabe's oppressive sham of a government. It seems that scores of tour companies are jumping ship and setting up operation in Botswana and South Africa. After dinner we walked through an area similar to boardwalk and stopped in at McGinty's Irish Pub for a Guiness and watched a Springboks match.

Stadium being built for the 2010 World Cup
see all photos »

This is my last night in Pretoria. I fly out tomorrow to Durban. I will miss the gang at 1322.