On the advice of Bill's friend "UK Dave" who had lived in Johannesburg, we arranged a tour of Soweto through the hotel concierge. She hooked us up with a man named Alan who picked us up at the hotel and drove us around for four hours. We thought we had gotten plenty of exposure to the
Afrikaner side of South Africa; it was time to learn more about the
Bantu perspective. Alan grew up in the Orlando township of Soweto and knows the whole area very well.
Soweto is a syllabic abbreviation for SOuth WEstern TOwnships, a large collection of various townships southwest of Johannesburg. About 1.3 million people live in Soweto, and in places it stretches as far as the eye can see.
The Soweto townships first sprang up in the period after gold was discovered in Johannesburg in 1886. Very quickly, Johannesburg itself went from a small outpost to a bustling white metropolis, and the townships became the place where the black, Indian, and "coloured" mine workers were forced to live after being evicted by city and state authorities. Under apartheid (1948-1994), the ruling regime accelerated the development of the townships, including separating the various ethnic groups (Sotho, Xhosa, Zulu, etc.) into so-called "independent homelands." The government funded all of the housing, much of it uniformly crappy, with the telltale corrugated aluminum roofing found on crappy housing the world over. Here is an example...
One thing that strikes you about Soweto is the air. As is the case elsewhere in South Africa, including along the
N3 south to Durban, there is burning grass alongside many roads, creating a distinctive hazy light against the otherwise bright, sunny winter sky. We asked Alan why they don't try to put them out, and he responded, "Nah, we just let them burn." Apparently, they are started intentionally to control the growth of the wild grasses. Lawnmower anyone? We still didn't get it.
Overall, Soweto is a fascinating place. Several Soweto-related entries to follow.
Soweto is a syllabic abbreviation for SOuth WEstern TOwnships, a large collection of various townships southwest of Johannesburg. About 1.3 million people live in Soweto, and in places it stretches as far as the eye can see.
The Soweto townships first sprang up in the period after gold was discovered in Johannesburg in 1886. Very quickly, Johannesburg itself went from a small outpost to a bustling white metropolis, and the townships became the place where the black, Indian, and "coloured" mine workers were forced to live after being evicted by city and state authorities. Under apartheid (1948-1994), the ruling regime accelerated the development of the townships, including separating the various ethnic groups (Sotho, Xhosa, Zulu, etc.) into so-called "independent homelands." The government funded all of the housing, much of it uniformly crappy, with the telltale corrugated aluminum roofing found on crappy housing the world over. Here is an example...
One thing that strikes you about Soweto is the air. As is the case elsewhere in South Africa, including along the N3 south to Durban, there is burning grass alongside many roads, creating a distinctive hazy light against the otherwise bright, sunny winter sky. We asked Alan why they don't try to put them out, and he responded, "Nah, we just let them burn." Apparently, they are started intentionally to control the growth of the wild grasses. Lawnmower anyone? We still didn't get it.
Overall, Soweto is a fascinating place. Several Soweto-related entries to follow.
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