Africa Safari – Day 31 – Johannesburg South Africa

Late breakfast, not pressure today.

Protest placards from Soweto 1975 – the day Hector Pietersen was shot

Boring stuff today, we explore Johannesburg and in particular Soweto. The modern middle part of Joberg is a bit I hadn’t seen, very modern, very clean, the Jewish area with its beautiful houses and overkill security (or maybe not overkill). Mandela had a house in this area with his last wife. Then we see the absolute pits, drug dealers, hookers, Nigerian gangsters, 5 star hotels closed because security could not be maintained. It’s gritty and dangerous, more dangerous than Soweto.

Soweto is quite organised, but poor, there are still shanty towns bits to it but the area near the Hector Pietersen Museum, Desmond Tutu’s Church and Mandelas house he shared with Winnie is pretty good. There have been some very dark days in this area. Hector Pietersen was 12 when he was shot at a school protest in Soweto 16th June 1975, the police opened up on a demonstration, killed about 15 day 1, then really upped the ante and shot way more the next few days. This street has had two Nobel Peace Prize winners live in it, Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Mandela and Oliver Tambo had a successful legal practice before he was imprisoned for 27 years for treason.