Soweto

There are many tours designed to give travellers an insight into this historic metropolitan township, so hop on board to experience Soweto.

Nearly 6 million people live in the township which really does pulsate with life – here children play in the streets of Zola (one of Soweto’s
areas), pedestrians walk in numbers and the noise from shebeens and restaurants in inescapable.

An abundance of historical sites are must-sees here including the Hector Pietersen Museum which commemorates the 1976 Soweto uprising, Nelson Mandela’s first house in the township, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s current residence and Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s house. Vilakazi Street is the only street in the worl where two Nobel prizewinners, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, have lived.

In addition to a myriad of B&Bs, guest houses and other accommodation, the Ubunto Kraal in Orlando west offers 10 self catering lapas in pristine African tranquility. Before you leave, make sure you visit Regina Mundi (Queen of the World), Soweto’s largest Catholic church and an important landmark in the resistance struggle against apartheid. The church still bears scars from the Soweto uprisings when police stormed the building.

Walter Sisulu Square, erected on the site of the 1955 Congress of the People, the first multi-racial gathering of South Africans and the
occasion at which the Freedom Charter was adopted is also worth a visit.