13 Johannesburg - Soweto

We boarded the bus early this morning and traveled through the exclusive, wealthy suburb of Jo'burg - Houghton which has exclusive schools and nice homes.

Sandton - the suburb we are staying in is becoming the new central business district of Joburg.  The old central business district has large Chinese and Indian populations who have numerous shops. Many merchants from poorer suburbs come to these shops in Jo'burg and purchase large quantities of merchandise to resell in their villages. Old, unused office buildings have become housing - many inhabited by squatters. The streets are lined with Jacaranda trees so the city appears purple during this time of year.  It is now illegal to plant the beautiful Jacaranda trees because they take up too much water and there is a severe water shortage in Jo'burg.

We stopped to see the home where Nelson Mandela lived.  His grandchildren now live there.  People have left notes on painted rocks around his home.

We toured the Apartheid Museum and the Mandela Exhibit which is a part of it - they are forever linked.  The museum showed the history of Apartheid, the story of Mandela before going to prison for 27 years, President de Klerk's change of heart saying Apartheid could not continue, Mandela's release, the 1994 election, his political career and his life in retirement.

We then went to the Hector Pietersen Memorial.  Hector Pietersen became the subject of an iconic image of the 1976 Soweto Uprising in South Africa when a news photographer (Sam Nzima) captured the dying Hector being carried by another student while his sister, Antoinette, ran next to them.  The photograph was published around the world. Hector was killed at the age of 13 when the police opened fire on protesting students.  Hector's sister, Antoinette, met with our group to tell us about the day and the impact it had on Soweto.  Mbuyisa Makhubo, the boy who carried Hector down the street, was considered to be a protester and was exiled by the government to another country never to be heard from again.  Sam Nzima, the photographer, was harassed by the police, had to move, became penniless, and had no job.  Although the picture gained international attention, it ruined his life.  The only way that this picture survived was that before his camera was confiscated, he took the film out and hid it in his sock.  For years, June 16th stood as a symbol of resistance to the brutality of the Apartheid government. Today, June 16th is designated as National Youth Day when South Africans honor young people and bring attention to their needs.  What an amazing history.

We drove through Soweto and then took a hired car back to the hotel, spent the afternoon shopping at a wonderful mall attached to our hotel - The Da Vinci - in suburban Sandton and met David and Deborah for dinner at a local Indian Restaurant.