On January 18, the cohort visited Soweto. Soweto, an acronym for South Western Township, is a western suburb of Johannesburg. The day began with us visiting Soccer City, the large soccer stadium located in the outskirts of Soweto where the finals of the 2010 World Cup were held. The stadium which had the ability to hold almost 95,000 fans is shaped like a large clay bowl. A thirteen your old girl won a contest for the design of the stadium, in which the outer structure is a mosaic of colors ranging from off-white to dark brown. We learned from our tour guide that the colors are supposed to represent the diversity of the people of South Africa. At the time of our visit, the stadium seemed almost completely deserted, and only a few cars sat in the vast parking lots on the overcast day. I imagined this to be a large contrast to the large and excited crowds that must have amassed around the stadium during the world cup. I wondered how hosting the World Cup affected Soweto. Did many tourists from around the world gain exposure to the township? Or was the stadium strategically located on the outskirts of Soweto to limit the world’s exposure to township life? Did Soweto monetarily reap any benefits through the investment into the stadium, and the tourism of the World Cup?
From the stadium, we ventured further into Soweto. We immediately drove through large mine dumps, which were large mounds of sand that looked like landfills. Five tons of sand are needed for the extraction of one ounce of gold. The mine dumps served as reminders of the industry that brought the development of Johannesburg (“the city of gold”) and Soweto. The discovery of gold in the late 1800s resulted in a large gold rush, and Soweto was developed as an area to house migrant workers. I thought it was ironic how the precious metal gold, helped develop Soweto, an area of great poverty.
Our tour guide for the day was a young gentleman named T.K. As a resident of Soweto he was able to give us much insight and knowledge concerning the area. He explained that many of the residents of the township greatly believed in the South African philosophy of Ubuntu, the idea of community and humanity. I thought the idea of the Ubuntu in Soweto, correlated with the lives of the residents of the townships we visited near Cape Town, such as Langa. In the townships, I noticed the strong presence of communal living and tending to the care of others beyond the immediate family.
The area of Soweto is large, at over 250 kilometers squared, and is home to 3.5-4 million residents. There seemed to be a lot of energy in the township as there were many pedestrians on the sidewalks and j-walking. Many of the residents were reliant on the numerous van-like taxis for transportation. Many vendors also lined some streets selling various foods items and articles of clothing, while we passed other streets with Toyota and V.W. dealerships. T.K. described Soweto to be a land of contrasts. In some areas, I noticed rather nice brick and concrete homes, with two car garages and fenced in yards. In other areas, I found more traditional shanty homes, small and weathered, with much more trash around them. In Soweto, there were limited trees in comparison to areas of Johannesburg. The lack of trees in Soweto illustrated the residents’ methods of survival, in using the timber of trees as a source of energy in areas that often lack electricity.
We stopped in an area of Soweto, called Motsoaledi. In comparison to other shanty towns we visited, I felt this area was not as used to tourism. In Motsoaledi we visited a very small pre-school with an aged play area outside. Despite the size of the school, it accommodated many children. As our tour guy said they would be, the residents were receptive to my class, and engaged us and offered us greetings. Children walked and played in the streets in bare feet. T.K. later explained that they were school children that should have been at school. This was a contrast from another area of Soweto where I saw school children in school uniforms. It was interesting as my class reflected about some of our interactions with the children. A female student explained how one of the young children was asking her about how many kids she had. Such interactions helped illustrate the cultural differences we confronted. While from a western perspective, one would not expect a college aged female to have multiple children, in Soweto this may be the norm.
I was amazed of the influence that Soweto and its inhabitants had in the opposition to Apartheid. We visited Freedom Square, an area that houses a monument that commemorated the signing of the Freedom Charter, a guideline for which the people would base their fight against the repressive culture in the 1950s. In the monument, the 10 pillars of the charter were written, such as, “The people shall govern, “All national groups shall have equal rights,” and “The people shall share the country’s wealth.” Many pivotal figures in the movement against Apartheid live or lived in Soweto, such as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. After leaving Nelson Mandela’s former house, our day concluded at the Hector Pieterson Museum. The museum was named after 12 year old Hector Pieterson, the first student to be killed during the June 16, 1976 Soweto uprising. The uprising was when thousands of students from Soweto marched in opposition to the government’s policy to enforce teaching in Afrikaans in the schools. The police combated the event with violence and gun fire. The uprising in Soweto was a pivotal moment in South Africa in the opposition against Apartheid. Mark Mathabane recounts the event in his book, Kaffir Boy, and how the uprising in Soweto inspired students from all around to engage in the cause. The influence of the event in Soweto reminded me of the influence of the “Greensboro Five,” the black students in Greensboro, NC, who sat in a restaurant and refused to leave without being served. Their efforts inspired others across the country to engage in the fight for Civil Rights.
Leaving Soweto, I realized the great historical impact the township had on all of South Africa. The people of Soweto and the events that happened there inspired the country and were influential in bringing an end to Apartheid. Now I question, who are the current leaders in Soweto? While Apartheid may be over, what problems still exist, and what is being done to try to resolve these problems?
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