Gauteng

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Celebrating Youth Day

Youth Day is celebrated in South Africa on 16 June.  It commemorates the Soweto uprising of 1976 which took place in response to multiple issues with the Bantu Education Act and the government edict in 1974 that Afrikaans be used as medium of instruction for certain subjects in black schools.  Police opened fire on the protesting students and it was then when photographer Sam Nzima took the iconic picture of the dying 12 year old Hector Pieterson being carried away…

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16/06/2017
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Exploring the Apartheid Museum in photos

The Apartheid era is a part of the South African history that will never go away.  It shaped South Africa's past and future to what it is today and the results of it will be seen for generations to come.  Even though it isn't something that should be celebrated it is something that must be remembered to make sure such things will never happen again.  Ja, ja, I can already hear comments about some of the situations we find ourselves…

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27/01/2015
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Soweto landscape

A typical Soweto landscape with the Orlando Towers in the background and a couple of minibus taxi's thrown in for good measure, photographed from the Hector Pieterson Memorial.

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18/12/2014
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Grabbing a taxi (tour) to Soweto

Johannesburg really surprised me while on the City Sightseeing Tour of the city.  The problem is that I wanted more and got myself a ticket to do the Soweto Tour Extension the next morning.  I was up bright and early and made my way down to Gold Reef City to hop on the first vehicle of the day.  The guide for the morning was the very delightful Brenda and I was joined by a couple of Brits, a German and two…

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10/12/2014
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My Mandela House selfie

I recently had the privilege to go on a Soweto Tour with City Sightseeing Joburg and one of our stops was Mandela House in Vilakazi Street.  Last time I was in Soweto they were still busy with the renovations on the house so I took the opportunity to visit and have a look.  There are various quotes throughout the house and decided to do a double whammy with this picture, taking a selfie while getting the quote on the window.The significance of posting this…

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05/12/2014
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The Constitutional Court and the Joburg skyline

The Constitution Court is the highest court in South Africa and is situated on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg.  Surrounded by what used to be the Number 4 Prison, the Old Fort and the Women's Jail, the court forms part of Constitution Hill and can be visited while on a tour of the precinct.  I didn't get to go on the tour - it's a long story which I have told before - but I did take a stroll around and ended up on the Old…

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04/12/2014
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Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto

The Hector Pieterson Memorial is one of Soweto's iconic sites and a popular stop on a tour of the township.  The Memorial along with the Hector Pieterson Museum is situated in Orlando West and commemorate the role of the country’s students in the struggle against apartheid.  The site is just a few blocks from where the 12-year-old Hector Pieterson was shot on 16 June 1976 during the Soweto uprising when high school students from the township took to the streets in a peaceful protest against the mandatory use…

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30/11/2014
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Standing on top of Africa’s highest building

I got to say "I'm on top of the world". Well sort of.  At least I can say I was on top of the tallest building in Africa.  Exploring Johannesburg on the City Sightseeing tour I was quite keen to visit the Carlton Centre in downtown Jozi.  Time allowed it and I hopped off along with a couple of my fellow travelers to head up, up, up.The great part of being on the City Sightseer tour is that they have a guide permanently…

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25/11/2014
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FNB Soccer City – The Calabash

If you are into soccer (or football as they call it in Europe), then you would at least have heard of the FNB Stadium.  Also called Soccer City and The Calabash, the stadium is seen as South Africa's main soccer venue and is situated next to Soweto in Johannesburg.  The stadium has a capacity of 94 736 making it the largest in Africa.  Significantly it was the site of Nelson Mandela's first speech in Johannesburg after he was released from prison in 1990 while it…

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21/11/2014
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The Flame of Democracy

Constitution Hill is one of Johannesburg's most prominent heritage sites.  It is the home of South Africa's Constitutional Court, the highest court in the country, and is located on the site of a number of prisons dating back to the Apartheid years.  One of these prisons were Number 4 Prison (the other two were the Old Fort and the Women's Jail)  where a lot of awaiting trail prisoners were kept during those years.  Although most of the old prison buildings…

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20/11/2014