Jo'burg to Pretoria

We had planed that Saturday would be move city and relax day.

We checked out of our hotel in Johannesburg and wandered along to the mall, called into a Woolworths (not the same as our old Woolies) and bought a few things for Ernie, took a few photos then sat down with a drink of tea and iPad and iPhones for an hour or so. Although it is not obvious in the photos, the mall was buzzing.




The night before we had trouble finding the mall on any map. In day light we were able to see that it is an area rather than a specific building. The whole complex was very large.




We made our way down to the Gautrain station across the road from the Mall and whizzed along to Pretoria. We thought that we should find where to check on for the blue train on Monday morning. it was right next to the Gautrain station. Our hotel is also very close, so we can just walk there.

This is the main station and the gardens. While taking the photo of the station, John was accosted by a man in a tatty orange visibility vest who told his that he needed a permit to take the photo - we assumed that this was a scam, and a local told us to ignore him.










Immediately opposite the station is the Victoria Hotel, the oldest hotel in Pretoria. It looks interesting but Pat had rejected this as a place to stay having read reviews. Having seen it, we think that this was the right decision.





After the usual rest, we set out to see a little of Pretoria and find a meal.

This is Church Square





This is the City Hall in Paul Kruger Street





We had skipped lunch and so by now it was getting towards eating time. John had found a likely restaurant on TripAdvisor and so we set out to find it but never did. We then looked around for other restaurants and eventually came to the conclusion that Saturday evening was not the time to eat unless you were in search of KFC, Chicken-Licken, Wimpy, McDonalds etc, etc. We eventually found a pizza takeaway where we could eat in.

We returned to the hotel and retired to the bar for the rest of the evening.

Along with other residents, we had a disturbed night. Some bikers staying in the hotel decided to ride fast around the city on their very powerful bikes between midnight and 3am. They revved them hard before setting off and screeched back into the car park on a regular basis. If you ever get to hear a large Harley Davidson being revved hard it is unbelievably loud. The hotel staff were no pleased either when they had to deal with the complaints.



Pat and John on tour

Soweto

A township was high on our list of things to see in South Africa but we were pretty vague about what to expect. TripAdvisor came to our aid with the suggestion of Felleng tours, a two person company with near perfect reviews, so we put ourselves in their hands and were not disappointed.

Agnes collected us from our hotel and drove us to Soweto to the south west of Johannesburg (Soweto means south west township). Along the way, she gave us a history lesson on South Africa which only demonstrated how little we knew, as well as indicating points of interest on the way. These cooling towers from a derelict power station are now used for bungee jumping.





Soweto has a mix of houses, ranging from the very poor to the gated houses of the rich - we saw the complete range.

This is a modern block available for rent, so the family needs to have a source of income












We passed a building where live chickens were being bought and sold. The birds looked in great shape and not from a broiler shed.




Funerals normally take place at the weekend and are followed by a feast. An animal is slaughtered at the house to feed the guests and this often takes place under a canopy outside the house. This one was not attached to a house, but was by the side of the road with meat laid out on stones.



Also by the side of the road and under canopies we saw barbers and improvised "garages" based on stone car ramps are everywhere




Our first stop was at a monument where the constitution of South Africa is carved. The monument is made of reclaimed bricks











Everywhere we stopped, Agnes was greeted by friends who were happy to pose for photos. These ladies in traditional costume are an example; they were just setting up their stall close to the monument.



Our next stop was a poor, shanty town, area of Soweto where there is 75% unemployment. Here there is a youth project, the Kliptown Youth Project (KYP), which, amongst many other things, provides sandwiches and a main meal for 400 children 6 days a week.





Today's lunch was rice and chicken stew and was bubbling away.



Agnes with the kitchen staff



They grow some vegetables (spinach at the moment) for the kitchen.





We were shown around the area and able to visit a home. The grandson greeted us at the door - our KYP guide established that there was a school holiday, or he would have been in trouble.



The house, a shack of corrugated iron, is very small with just a living room/kitchen and two bedrooms separated by a curtain.





All was tidy and shipshape and the grandmother was preparing food on a paraffin stove. She heads one of the largest families with eleven members of her family living in this community.



This is another house close by.




The loos are all locked and each is shared by up to eight families.




The project also provides a homework room, library, sports activities, dancing, computers and a large TV room where the TV is powered by solar energy. The TV room means that many people can watch important events and games. The project is funded by private donations mainly from the USA. The children get to go abroad to show of their dancing skills.




Each child has their own robust and basic laptop which they take to school with them. Each laptop is colour coded with a flower and a cross of different colour combinations.


Although this was a very deprived community, it clearly had a great sense of solidarity and neighbourliness.


Our next stop was a cultural village created to ensure that the people of Soweto remained in touch with their traditions. It features different kinds of traditional huts and sculptures and paintings by a well known shaman who had, apparently, predicted events such as HIV and the twin towers attack.















The tour ended with a musical interlude.





Now it was Mandela time! We called in at the house he had lived in with his family and to which he returned briefly after his release.




Bullet holes above the window attest to the violence to which his family was subjected. They built a second brick wall inside to protect themselves. The house was fire bombed twice.




The dining table which survived the fire bombings as it had been given away to a relative.



Winnie Mandela's restaurant was across the street and Desmond Tutu still lives close by on the other side of the road.



Leaving Soweto




Our next stop was the Apartheid museum. This takes sometime to go round and so Agnes left us to spend as long as we wished. First we ate lunch and then decided on the 1 hour tour which skips some parts. this suited us as we had already seen an exhibition at the Mandela monument.


The introductory section 'classifies' visitors (randomly selected) into white or non white, so that you can see what life was like in those days with notices everywhere restricting access.


At the end of this short section was one of the few laughs in the entire museum: the number of appeals against classification that succeeded. For example, Malayans being reclassified as white or black apparently randomly or as convenient to the particular case.


Thereafter, we were guided through the turbulent history of South Africa from the first settlers in the 1600s, through the troubled times of the 1970s and 80s to the release of Mandel, the end of apartheid and the building of a new constitution.





The museum is a sobering experience and very worthwhile.

It was still reasonable early, so Agnes took us past the old railway station





over the newly opened Mandela bridge





to see the Constitutional court which is built on the site of the old prison and incorporates part of the old structure into the new. It's name sign is given in all 11 official languages of South Africa.





The doors give the main constitutional elements in sign language.




The 'trees' in the entrance hall echo the days when the justice system operated under trees.





In the courtroom there are seats for the eleven judges of the court which tries constitutional issues much the same as in France. The court has a veto over government legislation if it finds that it is against the constitution.




On the wall was the largest flag to be made of beads.







Part of the court was built using bricks from the old prison part of which still exists just across the road. This is the white men's prison and, needless to say, Mandela was here too - they didn't want him talking to other black prisoners!





The prison is on top of a hill which has good views of Jo'burg. This was once the woman's prison and is now offices.




This was as close as we got to areas that are advised to be unsafe for tourists.




Finally, the day ended with a visit to the house where Nelson Mandela now lives. One is not allowed to stop outside the house, so these were taken from a moving car. It was quite a grand house but not enormous like many other houses in this exclusive area.





People leave stones with messages outside the house.






In the evening, we went out to the Koi asian restaurant in the mall not too far from our hotel and had a very good meal - thanks again TripAdviser.


Pat and John on tour