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…

Comments Off on Celebrating Youth Day

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.

1 Comment

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…

3 Comments

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…

2 Comments

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…

Comments Off on Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto

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…

Comments Off on FNB Soccer City – The Calabash