We squeezed in a trip to Soweto before our flight home today. Soweto stands for South Western Township and refers to the urban area that sprang up outside of Johannesburg when gold was discovered in the area. During the apartheid era many blacks were removed from areas “too close” to desirable white areas and relocated in Soweto; many other people moved there as laborers to work the mines, often setting up makeshift tin shanties. Today the sprawling township is nearly 60 square miles and boasts about a million inhabitants. Today it is still largely black although there are some whites living in the township. It is a mixture of tin shacks and nice brick homes crowded together.
Soweto was the site of the 1976 student protest against a law requiring that they be taught in Afrikaans, which they considered the language of the oppressor. On June 16, thousands of students were marching peacefully when the police were sent in to disperse the crowd. It turned into a massacre with hundreds of youth killed (estimates range from 200-700) and thousands more wounded. We went to a church where around a thousand students were hiding from police; the police went in and opened fire. We also visited the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, named for one of the first and youngest victims of the uprising and subject of the iconic photo from the massacre. On the way to the museum we passed the square in Sharpeville where the coffins of the 69 victims of the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 were laid out for public display. These events demonstrate the brutality of the apartheid government and the tremendous cost of defying the government. They also remind us of the power of protest, since these events brought international attention to the inhumane system and led to pressure from foreign countries for South Africa to end apartheid rule.
Famous Sowetans include Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Both live on the same street in the Orlando neighborhood of Soweto – the only street in the world to boast two Nobel Peace Prize winners. We visited Mandela’s house, an important focal point in the anti-apartheid movement because both he and second-wife Winnie were so active in the struggle. Then it was a modest but solid two-bedroom brick home like many others in the neighborhood; today it has been restored and built up as a museum to the man and the struggle. Mandela returned to this house for a brief time after he was released from prison but found it provided no privacy for him or his family so he moved Houghton. I had visited the home in 1999, before it had been restored and it seemed so much more humble. Now it is hard to separate the museum building from the home, and the Mandela Family Restaurant (really run by the family) sits on the corner across the street. Read more about the house at http://www.mandelahouse.co.za/history.asp/.
Desmond Tutu still lives in his house a few blocks away so there is no opportunity to visit the grounds. I expect that it, too, will become a historical site once he passes. The two residences certainly remind us that it is possible to overcome extreme circumstances and make a difference in the world around us. It also reminds us of how much harder it is for those who are marginalized to do so.
Today, Sowetans are capitalizing on the tourist draw to the area. Street vendors have set up tents along the street selling everything from African crafts to Springbok jerseys (I bought a flag from the 2010 World Cup). Young men and women perform dances in the street then pass a hat to raise money from passersby (I got rid of most of my rand that way). I really enjoyed the visit – so important to experience in a small way what life is like in a black township – but still feel uncomfortable about the “poverty tour” aspect. Part of me feels like it is wrong to exploit the people living there but another part feels like it is an opportunity to improve the lives of those who still live there. Yet another reminder of White Privilege and First World Guilt.
Soweto was the site of the 1976 student protest against a law requiring that they be taught in Afrikaans, which they considered the language of the oppressor. On June 16, thousands of students were marching peacefully when the police were sent in to disperse the crowd. It turned into a massacre with hundreds of youth killed (estimates range from 200-700) and thousands more wounded. We went to a church where around a thousand students were hiding from police; the police went in and opened fire. We also visited the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, named for one of the first and youngest victims of the uprising and subject of the iconic photo from the massacre. On the way to the museum we passed the square in Sharpeville where the coffins of the 69 victims of the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 were laid out for public display. These events demonstrate the brutality of the apartheid government and the tremendous cost of defying the government. They also remind us of the power of protest, since these events brought international attention to the inhumane system and led to pressure from foreign countries for South Africa to end apartheid rule.
Famous Sowetans include Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Both live on the same street in the Orlando neighborhood of Soweto – the only street in the world to boast two Nobel Peace Prize winners. We visited Mandela’s house, an important focal point in the anti-apartheid movement because both he and second-wife Winnie were so active in the struggle. Then it was a modest but solid two-bedroom brick home like many others in the neighborhood; today it has been restored and built up as a museum to the man and the struggle. Mandela returned to this house for a brief time after he was released from prison but found it provided no privacy for him or his family so he moved Houghton. I had visited the home in 1999, before it had been restored and it seemed so much more humble. Now it is hard to separate the museum building from the home, and the Mandela Family Restaurant (really run by the family) sits on the corner across the street. Read more about the house at http://www.mandelahouse.co.za/history.asp/.
Desmond Tutu still lives in his house a few blocks away so there is no opportunity to visit the grounds. I expect that it, too, will become a historical site once he passes. The two residences certainly remind us that it is possible to overcome extreme circumstances and make a difference in the world around us. It also reminds us of how much harder it is for those who are marginalized to do so.
Today, Sowetans are capitalizing on the tourist draw to the area. Street vendors have set up tents along the street selling everything from African crafts to Springbok jerseys (I bought a flag from the 2010 World Cup). Young men and women perform dances in the street then pass a hat to raise money from passersby (I got rid of most of my rand that way). I really enjoyed the visit – so important to experience in a small way what life is like in a black township – but still feel uncomfortable about the “poverty tour” aspect. Part of me feels like it is wrong to exploit the people living there but another part feels like it is an opportunity to improve the lives of those who still live there. Yet another reminder of White Privilege and First World Guilt.