the real jo'burg

This week, I actually went on a tour to see parts of jo'burg that I haven't seen yet. I went to downtown jo'burg (the "cbd"), Soweto (one of the townships, where the old aparthied gov't hoarded all the blacks/coloured), and the apartheid museum. This was such an experience and i'm not completely sure that i can really do justice to it in this blog...you really just have to experience it on your own (thats a plug to come visit!).

We started off by going to Soweto (South West Townships), the largest township in SA, i believe. It was such an interesting place. Its actually not that depressing; the guide showed me some millionaire houses in the township, but we also saw some "squatter" houses, which are where the poorest people live (those who can afford somewhere to live at least). These squatter houses are made of tin and have pretty much no access to clean water, indoor plumbing, or much of any kind of basic necessity. The government has "tried" to provide some help to these township and aid them in building houese and fences, etc, but most of the houses are what they call "matchbox" houses (the size of a matchbox) and typically do not include indoor bathrooms. As with many africans, families are large here so the ones with a bit of money have tried to extend their homes a bit. The guide also interestingly pointed out that crime is not really the most dire problem in the townships, rather its the access to clean water, and lack of jobs. Of course, he probably conveniently forgot that rape is a crime and happens a lot in the townships. Also, most of the crime he attributed to immigrants and foreigners (like nigerians!), which, i'm learning, is really a scape goat (as it is in the US and all over i guess; blame it all on the immigrants!).

Next we went to the Hector Pieterson Museum, also in Soweto. Many of you have probably seen Hector Pieterson, but don't know its him. If you've ever seen a picture of a boy carrying a wounded younger boy with his a girl alongside, the boy being carried is Hector. (I have some good pics, but those have to wait until I get a comp and can upload them). This picture came to depict the apartheid struggle: the boy was shot during a peaceful protest by school children on June 16, 1976 against the apartheid policy that all schools must teach in the Afrikaan (minority group) language. The students were holding hands and chanting and the policemen (several of them black) did not know what to do so they started firing shots and one of the first casualties was Hector. The girl in the picture was his sister (she is now the administrator, or head lady, at the museum). The boy carrying him, I don't remember his name, but he disappeared and hasn't been back. Hector died hours after that photo was taken.

There was a tape in the museum, recalling the policeman that wanted to finish off hector as he was lying on the floor. A random girl stood between Hector and the gun being pointed and informed the policeman that if he wanted to shoot Hector he would have to shoot through her. The confused policeman averted his gun and shot into the air.

We also went into Nelson Mandela's first house and by Winnie Mandela's and Desmond Tutu's houses. South African's are very proud of the fact that they not only have 4 nobel peace prize winners, but also that 2 of those lived on the same block (Vilakazi street). They also still very much love winnie and refer to her as the mother of south africa. I suggest you all wikipedia it to learn more about hector pieterson, etc.

On a lighter note, I finally got some south african soul food. we went to this popular restaurant in Soweto call Whandie's. south african food is a lot (and i mean a lot) of meat, pretty much.

After soweto, we went to the Apartheid museum which is also an amazing experience. You could easily spend half a day there. From there we drove to the CBD, or downtown Jo'burg. Downtown jo'burg is depressing. most businesses, except for a couple banks, have completely left the place, leaving street vendors and informal shops lining the streets everywhere. this is where a majority of the crime happens (murder, theft, armed roberries, rape, drugs; most blamed on immigrants, of course). Also you will not find a single white on the streets of the cbd. ok, i counted 3 white people, walking rapidly to their cars. there were also few indians and coloured people too (btw, coloured are sort of what americans would call mixed; one day i will understand south africa's vast/complicated race situation). We went to the top floor of the tallest building in africa (so they claim) and saw the whole city. again, it was really depressing just how deserted the downtown area is. the buildings have been left for ruin, things are falling apart everywhere, and yet people still live (whether lawfully or not) in these former office/apt buildings with all broken glass windows, no electricity, no water, etc.

As we were coming back the guide pointed out to me the one place that i still have the visit shortly: Alexandra, another township. This is actually where he lives. Interestingly, you call look out from Alexandra and see Sandton (the extremely rich suburb where all the money has moved to); however, in Sandton you cannot look out and see Alexandra...