48 hours in Soweto

For a great number of South Africans, Soweto is a big boo word evoking visions of poverty, crime and political volatility. It’s a place, they assume, from where trouble comes. Don Pinnock once lived there and had a different view. He returned to see if it was still one of the most welcoming and exciting cities he’d ever known.

Thirty-five-year-old memories drifted back: the raw sensuality of the Mahotella Queens, South Africa’s answer to the Supremes; watching, spellbound, as Soweto songbird, Abigail Kubeka, belted it out to an adoring crowd at the Eyethu Cinema; Saturday afternoon boxing with young hopefuls battering each other to the cheers of a bloodthirsty crowd.

Then there was mbaqanga music in beery taverns; the first brilliant successes of a soccer team named Kaizer’s Eleven (who’d later become Kaizer Chiefs); listening to Edmond Piliso of the African Jazz Pioneers picking out marabi tunes in a smoke-filled room; drinking cheap brandy in the Falling Leaves shebeen with Soweto’s future mayor, David Thebehali, who drove a white, soft-top Ford Thunderbird; police vans prowling through the night.

In the late 1960s I’d moved from Braamfontein to Dobsonville, a Soweto suburb near where I worked, against the exhortations of my white friends. “You’ll be murdered,” they insisted. “It’s not safe.” In fact, it was like decamping from a sterile hospital ward to the warm heart of Africa. Soweto had soul and in two years there, I never once felt unsafe.

Now, all these years later, I was back. Bongani Ndlovu from Soweto.co.za had picked me up from the airport and we’d headed for B’s Museum Restaurant in Orlando West. Beatrice Njemla – Ma B – started out as a back-room shebeen queen and now offers good coffee and, she insisted, the best vetkoeks in Soweto. It’s also a museum of sorts, with the walls covered in struggle history pictures and news clips.

Sitting there, I was wondering if Soweto would be the same. Friends still warned of the dangers. “Don’t take out your cameras in a public place,” they said. “Don’t get out of the car.” The sprawling city, named as a contraction of South Western Townships and with anything from 1,5-million to five-million people (nobody seems able to count), is obviously still down there with hell and damnation for non-Sowetans.

At Ma B’s, appreciating the vetkoek, was Churchill Mrasi, who heads the Soweto Business Initiative Council. “Is Soweto dangerous?” I asked him.

“Dangerous?” he responded, a huge grin spreading over his wide face. “Let me tell you what’s dangerous. It’s those old, mostly white Joburg suburbs. There’s no ubuntu there. You can’t make friends over a high wall. You can get killed there and nobody will notice.

“Soweto’s not dangerous. I’ll tell you why. Here everybody knows everybody in their area. You get observed. If you scream, the whole street will come out to help. If your car’s stolen – and not many are – somebody will come tell you who did it. Soweto’s one of the safest places in this country. It’s just that it has this reputation.”

A history of struggle
Soweto has loads of history, heroic, sad and liberating. The field where the Freedom Charter was signed in Kliptown back in 1955 is now both a towering monument on a traffic island and a huge, strange building in a paved park named the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication. The construction is beautiful in parts, but looks like cattle slaughter pens in others.

More intriguing is the small house in Vilikazi Street where Nelson and Winnie Mandela lived in the 50s. It’s now a museum filled with memorabilia. In the same street is the former home of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The living memory of the 1976 student uprising is the Hector Pieterson Museum (phone 011-536-0611) in Orlando West. Hector was the first child killed by police in the protests against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools. The interestingly designed museum documents the pain, conflict and heroism of running battles which exploded onto Soweto’s streets.

Nearby, in Moroka, is the soaring Regina Mundi Catholic Church, which defiantly kept its doors open to people seeking refuge from the police in the turbulent 1980s. Beneath its wide roof, both political meetings and funerals of people shot by police were held. There are still bullet holes in the ceiling to testify to police raids. Nearby, on the Klipspruit, is a pretty, tree-covered park with a dam and play equipment for children on rolling lawns – it’s all so far beyond the standard Soweto stereo-type it makes you gasp.

Well worth a visit is the Alf Kumalo Historical Photography Museum in Diepkloof (phone 011-985-5958). As a press photo-grapher, Alf captured many of the iconic pictures by which, today, we identify the struggle for political liberation.

People places
Over in Diepkloof and fascinating in its swarming business is the Bara taxi rank from where you can find a ride to almost anywhere. Thousands of white minibuses zoom in and out of the ranks, which also serve as a meeting place and shopping opportunity. Muti Combs Cabbages Clothes They’re all there and much more, for a fraction of the price in more formal shops.

Just up the road are the famous painted cooling towers and Orlando Dam, which is host to the Soweto Canoe Club and a magnet for Sunday picnickers. Once a year, tons of sea sand gets trucked in for a three-day beach party extravaganza of kwaito, jazz and rock.

If you want a view of Soweto, a good place to go is the water tower in Tshiawelo. The koppie on which it stands has been colonised by the Somoho community empowerment project, which has planted herb and traditional medicine gardens on its slopes and wins all sorts of awards for its various projects (phone 011-984-8396).

If you want to pay homage to departed icons, visit the Avalon Cemetery where many famous struggle heroes, including Chris Hani, Hector Pieterson, Helen Joseph and Joe Slovo are buried.

When evening falls
As the sun dips behind the smoke of coal fires, Soweto begins to throb with night action. If you ask around towards a weekend, you’ll get directions to where it’s happening.

Also, tune into Jozi FM on 105.8. It’s the community radio station with the biggest listenership in the country and it’s where you’ll get news, views and local music in a number of languages.

Kwaito – a mixture of rap and rock with threads of the Congo, Mali, Mozambique and more – is the big thing, but there’s also good jazz and even classics. Keep a look out for Duduzile Sikwane and her musically gifted family (all her children form the Young Talents) if you want to taste hot Soweto jazz.

There are some really good restaurants to choose from. B’s Museum Restaurant in Orlando West is good for traditional fare (phone 011-935-1766, web http://www.soweto.-co.za/html/sh_beatrice.htm). At Masakeng in Mofolo, run by Godfrey Mautloa, you can get a juicy T-bone steak with chips and veg for R35 (phone 011-982-8034) and, just round the corner, is the Morara Wine and Spirits Emporium, which offers an impressive range of excellent wines backed by some knowledgeable advice.

The place to see and be seen in Soweto is The Rock in Rockville, which has a roof from where, beer in hand, you can watch as the sun sinks like a golden coin into a slot, turning on all the city lights.

The absolute best eatery is undoubtedly Wandies Place (phone 011-982-2796, web http://www.wandiesplace.co.za). It was started 25 years ago by Wandile Ndala, who’s still around to make sure everyone’s happy. You serve yourself from great pots of beef, mutton, mogodu (tripe), oxtail and chicken stews or grills, then move to the pap, rice, samp, dumplings and veggies plus six salads that dare you to find even more place on your plate. Sweets, cakes and coffee top it all. When I was there, a wine tasting was in progress and the place was packed.

Overnighting
If you thought you’d be taking a chance spending a night in Soweto, Botle’s Guesthouse in Dube soon dispels that notion. It’s a three-star B&B which is impeccable in every sense of the word. Cosy bedrooms with large-screen televisions, classy bathrooms, a kitchen for self-catering that beats any I’ve ever seen, a marble-floored dining room and a comfortable lounge. It won AA excellence awards for three years running.

Botle’s is owned and run by Ellen Mabiletsa, and named after her daughter. It has three bedrooms with en suite bathrooms and is not far from Wandies Place. It costs R250 a night B&B sharing and R350 single. Phone 011-982-1872, e-mail botle@absamail.co.za or web http://www.sowetobedandbreakfast.co.za.

Wandies restaurant is part of a boutique hotel of the same name which has seven rooms. B&B rates are R360 a person a night single and R500 for a double room. Phone 011-982-2796, e-mail motlalepule@emvelonet.co.za or web http://www.wandiesplace.co.za. Another AA winner is Lolo’s Guesthouse in Diepkloof which has four en suite rooms and an excellent table. Phone 011-985-9183 or e-mail lolosbb@mweb.co.za.

Getting around
Road signs in Soweto are either poor or non-existent and there’s a good chance of getting lost if you don’t know the area. It’s essential to take a local guide if you are in any doubt about where you’re going. We used Soweto.co.za, who provided a pick-up from the airport and made all the bookings. They’re excellent and can be contacted at tel 011-326-1700 or e-mail info@soweto.co.za. Their web address is http://www.soweto.co.za.

My conclusions?
Soweto is looking better than ever, with tar roads, parks, paved sidewalks and green public lawns. Poverty is still there and the spruits are still full of rubbish, but there are elegant houses, fine eateries, smart B&Bs and, as always, cutting-edge music. Is it dangerous? I never gave it a thought.