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Step out in world-famous Soweto
Touring Soweto
Most Soweto tours begin at Baragwanath Hospital.
© Chris Marais
Did you know?
Soweto is an acronym for South Western Townships, because Soweto lies south-west of Johannesburg.
It’s 5pm on a bitterly cold Gauteng winter’s morning, and the giant human sprawl that is Soweto climbs out of bed. The Old Potchefstroom Road that cuts through this city of about 2-million souls starts to throb with the traffic of thousands of buses and taxis.
Over in Dube District, the people at Wandie’s Place are hard at work preparing the ingredients for our lunch later in the day: meats, vegetables, porridges, sauces and salads.
When touring Soweto, it’s almost mandatory to have a guide with (a) a sense of history, (b) a sense of geography and (c) a sense of humour.
We begin in the bustle of the Baragwanath Taxi Rank, near the largest hospital (with 3 200 beds) in the Southern Hemisphere. Our guide will point out the merry roadside butchers, we will blanch slightly and then move on past a scrapyard, which some local wags call ‘The Ladies’ Parking Garages’.
We stop off at the Kliptown squatter camp, chat with the residents and marvel at the human spirit that can survive here in these narrow, rutted alleyways.
We’re going to Regina Mundi, a massive Catholic church that was once a focal point of the anti-apartheid Struggle and is home to the famous Black Madonna and Child painting. En route, we pass two cooling towers of the old Orlando power station, where young adventurists are busy abseiling. Touring Soweto means different things to different people.
At the Hector Pieterson Museum and the Mandela House in Vilakazi Street, we get a sombre sense of the 1976 uprisings against 'Bantu education' (the education system under Apartheid, during which black children where forced to learn in Afrikaans, and given far fewer resources than and their white counterparts). Outside, children who have never seen the days of Apartheid are strolling back from school. It’s time for us to head off for a late lunch in Dube District – and a night of jazz, jazz, jazz at The Rock of Rockville…
Travel tips & Planning info
Who to contact
Soweto Tourism and Information Centre
Tel: +27 (0) 11 945 3111
Soweto Tour Guides
Tel: +27 (0) 11 985 6249)
Email: info@sowetoguidedtours.co.za
Gauteng Tourism Authority
Tel: +27 (0) 11 639 1600
Email: info@gauteng.net
Soweto Bicycle Tours
Tel: +27 (0) 11 936 3444
Mobile: +27 (0) 86 630 2854
Email: lebo@sowetobackpackers.com
How to get here
Soweto is a vast, sprawling township lying south of Johannesburg off the N1.
Around the area
The Apartheid Museum at Gold Reef City is always a good starting point for a trip into Soweto.
Tours to do
The standard Soweto Heritage Tour is recommended for first-timers to the city. The Soweto Bicycle Tour, and now the Tuk Tuk Tour of Soweto, are new innovations in touring Soweto.
Get around
The best way to visit Soweto is in the company of a registered guide who will pick you up at your place of residence.
What will it cost
Tour costs vary from about R500 per person for a half day tour to R800 for a full day in Soweto. The bicycle tours costs about R550 per person for a full day's riding around Soweto.
Length of stay
Most visitors find enough to occupy them in Soweto for a full day; others like the half-day tour and some like the evenings in a Soweto shebeen.
What to pack
Your normal daypack would include sunscreen and hat, water and guide book.
Where to stay
Some like to stay in Johannesburg and venture into Soweto by day, but there is a very good network of Soweto home stays that is becoming the popular option.
What to eat
Taste everything on the buffet table: it's an all-South African mix of Indian, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa and Venda cooking styles and a journey of exploration in itself.
What's happening
Check with your guiding company for information on festivals and happenings in Soweto during your visit.
Best buys
Various cultural crafts, on sale near the Hector Pieterson Museum.