Sunday June 4
The hotel is at the airport and totally plane themed. Plane wing in the foyer, room numbers on little wings, mirror in shape of jet intake, and the room itself of interesting decor:
First plan for the day was a walk in the local area, quickly squashed by the hotel as far too dangerous. So it devolved into a walk around gaol yard hotel carpark, complete with staff as prison guard.
More scenic out the back, but coffee time beckoned.
The talkfest was interrupted by our guide for the tour of Soweto.
To get to Soweto, one needs to drive through the more affluent areas of Joburg, and the protection on the perimeters of the houses suggest the hotel offered sage advice. The guide said security was a big business in the area, and that there was little problems with break-ins. Later our main tour guide had a different opinion.
All the houses had strong fences, topped with barbed wire, electric fences and security cameras.
What the heck is smash and grab window film?
Even the schools are protected and display an indemnity notice
Heading up the hill, little did we know one of our dogs had been there before us.
The Constitutional Court
Built on the ridge of Braamfontein, it was originally the site of three notorious prisons, one for whites, one for ‘natives’ and one for women.
The walls of the court are symbolically built from recycled bricks from the prisons.
The Freedom Ladder – highlighting
The hallways are lined with artworks depicting the struggles under apartheid.
One of the displays was clean bones. Not human but hyena, zebra, springbok and kudu.
They are however meant to symbolise the unidentified humans left behind after massacres across the world.
The doors are huge – 8m high. The carvings represent the 27 fundamental human rights enshrined in the Bill.
Outside the court:
Drive by shots
So if you are car mechanic, and the sign is not to good, what better way to advertise than a sculpture.
Mind you, it looks a bit better than the workshop.
Not guns, this is celebrating mining
Alfresco dining room
Cemetery
Soweto
The colourful, predominantly black township, an absolute hive of activity. During the tour, we also stopped for lunch and visited the house of Nelson Mandela.
Regina Mundi Church
Home to the Black Madonna, and scene of police action to break up a service commemorating the student riots of 1976
Our guide and his ‘wife’
Back on the road, the streets are lined with stalls
Lunch
Mandela’s house, regularly shot up by the police.
Another dining experience
Kid’s Centre
And a sign I am not sure you would see anywhere else but JoBurg (R100=~$A8):
