Hallo, hallo everyone! This week, let me take you back to South Africa for a Soweto day trip, including Nelson Mandela’s house.
When it comes to South Africa, people think of safari, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria. However, Soweto, a township in Gauteng, Johannesburg is not to be missed.
I extended one day so I could join this Soweto day trip where I could:
- Visit Nelson Mandela’s house
- Visit the Freedom Charter Monument
- Visit Hector Pieterson Museum + get to know Soweto Uprising (history)
- Visit the (in)famous neighbourhood where the rich and poor live nearby each other
So, this day trip was more about a history and culture trip.
Yes, it’s a small group tour. But I like joining a group tour when visitting a destination for the first time, so I can understand the story behind what I see 😊
Visitting Nelson Mandela’s House during Soweto Day Trip, South Africa
Actually, I had two choices: to join Johannesburg or Soweto day trip. It’s easy to make a decision. Of course, I chose Soweto as I would visit Nelson Mandela’s House!
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela aka Nelson Mandela was a very important figure in South Africa.
He was the first president of South Africa and fought for peace, equality, and justice not only for his country but around the world.
In South Africa, he was very well known and respected because he ended apartheid, a social system where black people and people of colour didn’t have the same rights as white people.
Heck, they even couldn’t live together!
There were cases when the government gave super short notice to black families to leave their houses because they wanted to make the neighbourhood area exclusive to white people.
Imagine policemen came knocking on your door and said that you had 15 minutes to pack and leave your house!!! 🤯😱😭
It was so, so horrible that my local tour guide choked up when he shared about the racial inequality in South Africa back then…
Btw, sorry guys, taking video of Nelson Mandela’s House was prohibited hence I could only show you the photos.
Oh ya, you need to buy a ticket to enter the house. Come in the morning to avoid the crowds!
Besides Nelson Mandela’s House, you could see many things on Vilakazi Street, Soweto, such as:
- Noble Laureate Walk
- Mandela Family Museum
- Hector Pieterson Museum
- Desmond Tutu’s House
- Souvenir stalls
- Street performers (if lucky)
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Visitting Hector Pieterson Museum during Soweto Day Trip, South Africa
The Hector Pieterson Museum was named after Hector Pieterson, a 12 years old schoolboy who was shot and killed during the Soweto Uprising.
During that period, the government wanted to enforce the usage of the Afrikaans and English languages at schools, which were mostly used by the white and coloured people in South Africa.
But the students wanted to learn in their native languages, Xhosa and Zulu. So, on 16 June 1976, they held a peaceful protest.
Things took worse when the policemen arrived. It was said that the policemen released their trained dogs on the students and the students killed one of them, so they opened fire.
Nobody knew who gave the command to shoot the students, but Hector Pieterson was one of the victims.
The first photo that you see told the story of Hector (fatally shot) being carried by Mbuyisa and Hector’s sister running beside him.
That photo, taken by photographer Sam Nzima, was published by The World and caused a global uproar. Many countries implied sanctions on South Africa.
Back then, the world didn’t know such injustice happened in South Africa because it was covered up.
Soon after, Sam Nzima and Mbuyisa had to leave the town to hide else they would be killed.
Actually, I couldn’t take photos in the Hector Pieterson Museum, Soweto.
But I didn’t know about that until my friend told me. That’s why I could share with you the names on the bricks and the beautiful smile photos, hehe!
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Visitting the Freedom Charter Monument during Soweto Day Trip, South Africa
During the Soweto day trip, South Africa, my small group tour and I had a short stop at the Freedom Charter Monument.
In short, the Freedom Charter was created to give all South Africans equal rights.
We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:
that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people; that our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality; that our country will never be prosperous or free until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities; that only a democratic state, based on the will of all the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief; And therefore, we, the people of South Africa, black and white together equals, countrymen and brothers adopt this Freedom Charter; And we pledge ourselves to strive together, sparing neither strength nor courage, until the democratic changes here set out have been won.
- The People Shall Govern!
- All National Groups Shall Have Equal Rights!
- The People Shall Share in the Country’s Wealth!
- The Land Shall be Shared Among Those Who Work It!
- All Shall be Equal Before the Law!
- All Shall Enjoy Equal Human Rights!
- There Shall be Work and Security!
- The Doors of Learning and Culture Shall be Opened!
- There Shall be Houses, Security and Comfort!
- There Shall be Peace and Friendship!
The Freedom Charter Monument was small and had a very humble design. The tower was made of brick, right on Walter Sisulu Sq, symbolises freedom and democracy.
Off we go to the last stop! Let’s visit the Soweto’s neighbourhood and kindergarten!
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Visitting Soweto’s Neighbourhood and Kindergarten, South Africa
Soweto is a township in Gauteng. If you like history, joining a Soweto day trip is a must when travelling to South Africa!
This township was created in the 1930s when the apartheid government started to separate the Whites from Blacks.
During that period, the government moved the Blacks out of Johannesburg and placed them in Soweto.
People who lived in Soweto had only temporary residency although they were born in South Africa, and most of them worked in Johannesburg.
There were two sides to Soweto’s neighbourhood – the rich and the poor.
The condition in the rich people’s housing area was very in contrast to the poor’s, although by location, they weren’t far away from each other.
However, although it was said an upscale neighbourhood in Soweto, South Africa, you couldn’t compare it with the villa areas overlooking the sea in Cape Town.
The poor in Soweto were living in shacks or mixed-gender dorms. Those who live in shacks mostly had no rooms, just one area for everything.
Did you know that this was one of the reasons why many women gave birth out of wedlock and many people got AIDS/HIV in Soweto, South Africa?
Especially for children, since there were no rooms and privacy, they could get ‘live shows’ whenever their parents were in the mood. And then… monkey see, monkey do! 🙈😶😨
The young man in the photo above was our local tour guide for the Soweto neighbourhood.
Despite growing up with so little, he studied hard accompanied by candles and managed to get a scholarship.
He was already a university student by that time and became a freelance tour guide, showing travellers his hometown. Of course, we tipped him afterwards!
Most of the poor people in Soweto, South Africa, were living in this kind of shacks, with asbestos roofing. Since they were poor, they couldn’t afford a new one or replace the asbestos roof.
After many years exposed to the sun and rain, the roof would be worn out and release harmful asbestos dust that caused lung cancer, genetic damage, and other diseases…
This part of the trip didn’t surprise me much because I went to similar places when in Indonesia. Yes, there were many poor people in my home country, with similar living conditions…
During our Soweto day trip in South Africa, we visitted a small kindergarten there. When we arrived, the children were eating. Then, a teacher asked them to sing for us.
Aaaw, how cute! 🥰🥰🥰
The children were flocking to Christine, Jacquie, and I because we had cameras with us. They were very interested in the cameras, so we showed them a little bit.
Luckily, none of them asked me to pick them up! As I was very small, even little children like them could be heavy.
Yes, lifting weights at the gym was different than picking up a real child!😅
Me, in the van: “If I have children in the future, I’ll ask my husband to pick them up!”
Others: 😆😆😆
Alright, friends! Our Soweto day trip in South Africa ends here. I hope you enjoy reading this blog post, have a great week ahead! 😊
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