Polarization: Johannesburg, Soweto

We celebrated our reunion in Johannesburg in Melville a very small vibrant community with buzzing restaurants and bars, our third traveler relating her stories of swimming in the Zambezi River, standing on slippery rocks under the Victoria falls, and feeding 30 people with one chicken. She was tucking into the Asian food and vanilla ice cream with great relish.

The next day I organized through an acquaintance who lived in Soweto and just met in Kuruman for the first time, to be picked up for a tour of Soweto. This is how it happens in South Africa in my humble experience. If I walk without fear, sensitivity for people trying to make a living and trust, I get taken care of. Personally I prefer to go with the locals and stand to have a much more of a real time that isn’t tainted by post apartheid people trying to fit into the New South Africa.

“We will make a plan” is a saying that folks use here. It means people will go out of their way to make sure that you are cared for, met at airports by strangers and carried safely to where ever you are going, oh and did mention given shelter and food. UBUNTU UBUNTU again and again. Even taxi drivers can be relied on here, called several days ahead from another town they will show up! Extraordinary. SO I have no qualms that people will be where they have promised to be, and do what they say they are going to do. A fantastic lesson if you find yourself a little flaky and unreliable and full of complaints.

Don’t get me wrong, not all things work out, due to elements, drink, drugs, poverty and a variety of other things. Yes bad things happen to not just bad people..... life I believe it is called...and if you add that to unnecessary risks, chance, fate then things occur. Truth is it can, as it can in Oakland, London, Kensington, Manhattan and other posh or not so posh places. But it is not by any means this wild and dangerous place where you have to hide away behind your locked gates with several dogs to keep you imprisoned from living your life or integrate and never go anywhere as some people have lived here since apartheid ended.

I travel with caution but not fear, trust not temptation I obey the rules of those who have lived here, black and white and so far all is good, and I don’t allow arrogance, resilience to authority, get in the way of temptation. I put my handbag or purse in the trunk of the car, as I am told to do and I can do all that and someone can still stick their hand through the window of my car to grab a $20 cell phone to sell for food for their starving kids. Is it right no.... but I cannot judge. When a local person tells me not to get out of the car, I listen !

When we live in such fear we not only keep out the bad things we keep out all the amazing things. South africa is one of the most stunningly beautiful countries you could ever imagine. It is diverse in every way. Its polarization is in your face, daily in every breath you take. It is vibrant, exciting, diverse, stunning and scary, and if you let the scary bit get you, then you will not go anywhere.

So for me to climb into a bus with 2 strange, yes, local men from Soweto who I know only from someone I met for literally a few minutes, meant that I was taking a risk, not because they were black but because they were strangers, and it wasn’t silly as I trusted the new acquaintance and I had three other people traveling with me. I noticed that some people also always try to bargain with black people about cost, not something they would do if it were a white tour operator. It’s completely absurd and degrading. Everyone is trying to make a living here.

Two men arrived in a very nice mini bus and we climbed in excited. Our first stop was to change money at the bus station in Johannesburg, a busy metro of people coming and going a very busy very black hub hub of activity, not a place to be hanging out or walking alone, as we were told later by the black taxi driver. Yes the air conditioning in the bus broke down just 30 minutes into the tour, which probably would not have happened had you paid another R400 or maybe it would...something has to break down ..right? It would not be Africa if it didn’t.

Soweto is known as the heart beat of the nation. It is a melting pot of South African Urban culture, infused with the history of the struggle against apartheid and abuzz with the energy of the city of gold. Shabeens ( local drinking establishments) heritage sites, music, arts and crafts and restaurants is the Soweto that has always been there, but now in the New South Africa and did I mention the World Cup? It has cleaned up nicely thank you, spruced, vibrant and a place of friendship. Yes it is okay to walk the streets as it is in most townships, but not many people know that you know, because they simply do not do it and along the way you will be in the heart of the most metropolitan township in the country, a most populous black urban residential area with a population close to a million.

Frankly I could not wait to step foot on its streets and smell the air that I had only heard of and seen from afar. I was struck by the grey concrete four room dwellings "the matchbox Houses” are still there, originally built for the first black migrants. The shacks are just that, one room the size of some people’s toilet and some a little bigger. I had a longing to see inside these shacks and I wondered and remembered the police riots, and the squalor I had read about in Kaffir Boy, Mark Mathabanes novel. The shacks are still there and still home to many Sowetans, and they take pride in making them home and still I hear people say, well they don’t know any better, and my heart fills and I hear, “you seem to let this really bother you” and I am speechless that these words still fall from the mouths of those in denial or is it shame, in the New South Africa. Despite the poverty, a strong sense of community has been established in the squatter camps and surrounding areas.

Soweto is a huge sprawling infrastructure of several thousand houses.

Much different from a few years ago when the Sowetan landscape consisted mostly of tin shacks and broken down houses. South Africa is the only country I believe in the world that provides some free housing. Soweto is a place of contrasts, piles of garbage alongside the newly planted grass and trees. There are the poverty stricken and the millionaires all living in the same swarming infrastructure with its own stores and gas stations. It is only in recent years that the democratic government has spearheaded moves to provide running water, provide electricity, plant trees and develop parks for the township. Despite the high unemployment I continue to see the creativity and entrepreneurship in the many traders plying their wares on the street corners. Recycling wire into elaborate toy bicycles, or animals studded with brightly colored beads, plastic bottles into beautifully painted boxes and plastic bags into strong bags! It puts the USA to shame!

Back in 1904 Klipspruit the oldest cluster of townships was established. Soweto is an Acronym for “South Western Townships” and from the start intended to be segregated. What struck me was walking into the center of Freedom Square where the freedom charter was adopted,(see previous posts) a grey concrete structure and the Soweto Hotel, also a grey concrete structure ....nothing was meant to be attractive and beautiful in Soweto when it was planned. It housed mainly black laborers, who worked in the mines away from the inner city and the famous single hostels where they lived can still be seen. More spots in inner Joburg were later reserved for white occupation, and in the 1950’s as more black neighborhoods were emptied out for white residents, Soweto became the so called dumping ground for those being relocated.....Senzenina -what have we done? Our only sin is our blackness.

Soweto’s history is rich. It became the center of campaigns that wanted to overthrow the apartheid state. Uprisings began in Soweto and included the famous student uprisings where Hector Pietersen was shot dead, in 1976 and changed the course of South African history.

Many political activists live and have lived here including Nelson and Winnie Mandela, and Desmond Tutu, their houses open as museums in the township. Oh and did I mention the township awaits the world cup with pride, its stadium is ready as it always has been, as Soweto produced the highest number of Soccer teams in the country.

The Orlando power station towers carries the largest mural painting in South Africa. And if you love graffiti and wall art some of it is spectacular. Make sure and check out the exquisite ones near the Regina Mundi church and also shown above.

First stop Nelson Mandela’s house which houses Mandela Memorabilia. It is a humble little house in Orlando West and it is where Mandela wanted to return rather than move to a more affluent area. I left my fellow travellers to wander whilst I sat with the tour organizer a whippet of a man called Mahlaba who was very efficient and looking forward to the world cup and the expected generation of business that it would bring. We sat outside at the wooden tables at the famous restaurant close by and shared a cold drink. There was a never ending buffet that served, chicken curry, tripe, sweet potatoes endless vegetables, beets, salads and malva pudding a sponge made with dates and treacle and trifle. All the yummie foods that reminded me of my families cooking. It was constantly busy, friendly, buzzing and vibrant. When the girls returned we ate as much as we wanted for 85 rand, about $11. After our sumptuous lunch we hopped back into the small bus, next stop the Hectar Pietersen Museum dedicated to the first child tragically shot in the Soweto riots, when the School children came out to protest about being forced to learn Afrikaans as part of their curricula. See past blog posts. The police opened fire on a peaceful group of children

The tour coordinator suggested 15 minutes and after my friends entered, and before I followed them in, I sat next to him on the stone wall, across from the vendors that sold the local arts and crafts. My heart was surprisingly full with emotion, as we had driven through the township, I spoke gently.

Mahlaba, it’s very important that those coming to our country learn the history of our people and that you participate in encouraging folks to spend as much time as they need in the museum, so you become a part of telling the story, 15 minutes is not enough. He listened intently and I saw a sadness descend. You are right maam he said. No need to call me maam, you are my brother, let’s work together to tell the story. I will bring you people and you honor your people by being patient. We shook hands on it, in the old African way.

The museum is excellent, small, but a beautiful honoring and portrayal of the events leading up to this historical event, it follows a history that is key and essential for those wanting to know South Africa. There are benches across from videos, text, newspaper articles or photos where at times one wants to sit and integrate and process the deep sadness that overtakes you as you read and look at the images on the walls. I saw tears brimming unashamedly as people’s hearts suddenly softened. It is not a museum to be rushed. Threaded through the sadness comes inspiration, appreciation for the struggle of Apartheid, pride and empowerment for the people’s courage and then for me an overwhelming deep love for my people.

After that museum we were taken to the Regina Mundi church where last year the Vukani Mawethu choir that I sang in had the honor of singing alongside Johannesburg church choirs, their tones and harmony filling the vast church leaving us quite speechless. Regina Mundi Church became the home to numerous anti -apartheid organizations and hosted the funerals of scores of political activists.

It is a spiritual haven for thousands of Sowetans and visitors and is known for its role in the townships history of resistance against apartheid. It is here that police stormed through the doors firing at fleeing students, where many were injured and to this day a statue of Christ stands his arms blown off by gun fire from the out of control riot police. Rgeina Mundi means Queen of the World and it offered protection to those in the struggle for freedom and has also been called “Church of the Nation”

The church became a world-wide symbol of the determination of our people to free themselves," Nelson Mandela. The truth and reconciliation commission hearings were held in the church from 1995 -1998 presided over by Archbishop Tutu.

"The church is an eye. It must see to it that justice is done."

The church is a historical place that despite the massacre that occurred, holds an uplifting energy. The Black Madonna and child is a masterpiece in oils, the high beamed ceilings calling for it to take its place on that wall space, and overlook all children and the swelling congregation sometimes up to 5000.

Onto Walter Sisulu’s grave where we walked amongst segregated grave yards, black without headstones, Asian, Colored and Jewish. I asked Mahlaba if we could sing the national anthem, he was surprised that I knew it and that I sang in Zulu. We sang out together not solemnly but with gusto and verve for the new South Africa, right there in honor of those who died in the struggle of Apartheid.

GO GO my Grandmother, our St Lucia Adventure

Plans changed and I dropped my fellow traveler in St Lucia (more later) about a 2 hour drive from Eshowe. I headed back close to Mtunzini to find my very own Zulu grandmother Zethu (the Jewel of Africa) I say find because it takes me back to 3 years ago when I first returned this precious jewel home after over a decade living in London and the USA. She had become very ill, unable to look after herself, drugged with several medications that caused more symptoms to her already distressed body.

Her legs were swollen and ulcerous. The first of her family to leave home during Apartheid, a brave woman, determined, strong and resilient. She put herself through nursing school

She had never wanted to return home for fear that she would be a burden to her family and she was very stubborn about this. So it was a surprise when she agreed that I should return her home when we had no other choice but to put her in a nursing home. She was not willing to die amongst strangers.

When I visited her 2 years later I found a very different woman, all her symptoms had gone. Physically she was radically improved, she walked without a walker and dressed and washed herself. She lived on a diet of corn flakes and milk, MAAS a sour milk that is mixed with crumbled bread and vegetables mostly grown in the garden and chicken that had been raised at the end of the yard!

She had decided to no longer continue her medication, some 16 pills a day. But more than that what I witnessed and now believe was a strong feeling that I had had a few months prior to her getting very ill, was that the cure may just be, to be with family, return and make peace with the land that she had left due to horrendous circumstances, eat cultural food and speak her language with her people. I believe that was her healing.

She lives in Rural Kwa Zulu, in her cousins home, on a bumpy dirt track road with no name, that looks like any other dirt track road so is hard to remember how to find her. The house is a brick structure with electricity and occasional running water. Huge green water tanks collect the water as well as covered buckets that are kept around the house, just in case there is a water shortage. The cousin has a vegetable garden and used to keep chickens. Each day she wakes up to a cock crowing and a chorus of birds. This is the main stay of the rural locals. Of course as you will find all over South Africa the whites own all the fertile land and the blacks were cast to land that could not be farmed or cultivated.

Kwa Zulu Natal though has a different feel to it. Because of its climate spoken about in the last post the locals are able to cultivate small patches of land and grow enough vegetables to feed the family.

Many people travel by “Taxi” that pick up at designated areas. They are the Combies holding about 25 people. They own the roads, pulling out, overtaking on the inside lane stopping at any given time without warning very dangerous animals indeed and cause the majority of the thousands of road accidents reported in South Africa. People wait for hours at any one time! And still people walk for miles some dressed in their smart work clothes. On Sundays it is not unusual to see people walking along the road in their Sunday Best complete with hats heading for the local church a few miles down the road, and children still have to walk for miles to the school, some shoeless alongside side those whose family can afford shoes.

There are no side walks on the roads and even driving in town is hazardous as folks are still walking in the road and crossing the street as though cars do not exist. But this is Africa all over and in South Africa in particular because of Apartheid, modernity has changed the look and feel of the country in a way that I suspect is quite different from any other Africa. It is not a third world country, and yet in some parts of the country the food on the shelves in stores were 2 years past their sell by date, maybe 2 vegetables to chose from, none green, and cans of unhealthy food. Meat that was eaten had to be brought in frozen from maybe an hours ride away. In other areas the Malls that are springing up serve the needs of those in the New South Africa where blacks, whites and coloreds walk together, shop in the same stores and eat in the same resteraunts.

I stayed in Umtunzini for two nights. A family meeting had been called to work with a problem that had arisen with my grandmother.

I have to say that when I saw the elders arrive and up to 4 more family members to discuss and solve conflict between my grandmother and her cousin I was humbled. They spoke in Zulu and as I understand afterwards much challenging discussion had occurred yet I did not hear one raised voice. I heard each person have a say more than once. There was no talking stick and no one interrupted the other. It was a good outcome.

The next day my grandmother and I parted for St. Lucia.

St Lucia is an Estuary situated on the East Coast of Africa . The main inhabitants were the Nguni tribe that occupied the region of the Tugela and South of Algoa Bay. It is world renowned as a wildlife and fishing destination since 1822. and a coastal jewel The park was the first to be declared a world heritage site by the United Nations. It has a sub tropical coastline and a classic African Game Park. It is South Africa’s third largest park spanning 280 kilometers of coastline from the Mozambican border in the North t Mapelane south and the St Lucia Estuary and made up of 320,000 hectares of pristine natural ecosystems, including swamps, beaches, coral reefs, wetlands, woodlands and coastal forests. here and no where else in the world can one find hippos, crocs and sharks sharing the same waters!

On our arrival I took my grandmother to a small Zulu village I had visited in the past. She had expressed great joy when I asked if she would like to see Zulu dancing.

The dancers were a group of young men and women who live in the huts in the village. Good to see that this tradition still holds the interest of the young ones and my grandmother was thrilled.

Zulu dancing takes the form of a competition, with members of the dance group jumping up randomly to see who can lift their leg up as a high as possible and come down with a loud stomp often ending lying on the floor as they lose their balance. I have seen tiny kids break out in this dance in the street and in schools so its still taught still held in tradition. They dress in traditional fur hats and skirts, and are adorned in brightly colored bead anklets and necklaces, they also carry a small spear with a skin shield.

The next day we explored a Cheetah Sanctuary

Cheetahs that have been rescued for various reasons either caught in snares, their mothers have neglected them, unwanted pets, or they have broken limbs.

Each one are cared for and fed by the sanctuary where they are held until they are well enough to be released back into the wild. They are fed zebra. We were invited to join two baby cheetahs, in their play, a football and lots of cuddles.

At 1am in the morning I was awakened by very loud primal sounds. My fellow traveller also came out of her room and we walked towards the noise, a parking lot belonging to the hotel across the street. There were two very large Hippos with a palm tree between them jaws wide sparring with each other. The sounds were hissing and very loud calls. It sounded as if they were in pain. The only thing that really kept them from tearing each other apart was the palm tree. The smaller hippo very cleverly stayed behind it. The local security guards said they had never seen anything like this before and when we asked why they were fighting .....Oh it is over a woman. How long will it go on for we asked, until one dies.

And so we watched for about 40 minutes, the larger hippo stomping off on three occasions only to return for more until he finally disappeared back into the Estuary for good, and the smaller one also finally walking off on another route. Maybe to end the fight in the water. I was wondering how these amazing creatures their enormous jaws (see above) survive so close to humans and modernity. When I told my grandmother the next morning, she was quite upset, for the whole day. Finally she said, “Why didn’t the woman tell them they should not fight over her!”

The following day I took her (my go go not the woman hippo in question ) out on the Estuary for a boat ride where we saw hippos submerged in the water, crocodiles alongside the riverbank, so still they looked like stone until with one flick of the tail they were in the water, and the most incredible birds. The estuary spans wide ...........and is how I expect an African river to be, brown, muddy and murky.

Later that day we drove to Cape Vidal through a small park where we drove alongside wart hogs, buffalo and a very special treat we encountered four black Rhinos crossing the road . One of them had a baby rhino about the size of a small dog and as lively as that, with big feet galluping (new word) along. It was an absolute treat and blessing to be a few feet away from these animals, who are quite otherworldly. Gentle unless provoked, hmmm .....much like us.

When we arrived at Cape Vidal a long white sandy beach, we placed a chair we had brought in the center of the sand so go go could sit and watch the ocean as she was too tired too walk on the hot sand, while my traveler and I put our feet in mama water for the first time since we arrived in South Africa. Scores of jelly fish and the setting sun (we had to return by 7pm ) or we would have to stay in the park, sent us back to the town. Granny saw the African ocean for the first time in many years, and so a dream of mine had been realized.

We returned her home the next day my traveller and I set of for Durban where we spent one more night on our way to Johannesburg, where we met up with the third traveler arriving back from her initiation in Zimbabwe.