Visit to Soweto (5 Aug 06)

Today was an interesting visit to one of the major townships in South Africa... Soweto is steeped in history of South Africa and its fight to free itself from Apartheid rule.... it was an eye-opener indeed to see the history of the struggle, and to visit to the various landmarks in the township..... For those who are interested, Soweto stands for "South West Rand Township". There is a population of 5.5 million people staying there - in a variety of tin shacks, small houses, and slightly more developed houses....

The journey started at about 9am... and took us about 30mins to drive there....

we drove past the Mandela house... on the way to Soweto... Nelson Mandela is currently staying here now....
a famous landmark when entering Jo'burg....

on the way to Soweto....
signboard telling us that we were entering Soweto....
houses in the distance...
dropped by this church in Soweto... apparently, President Bill Clinton had visited this church before when he came to South Africa.

we drove by Former First Lady Winnie Mandela's house... surprisingly, there does not seem to be any guards outside the house.....
I then went to the house President Nelson Mandela lived in for 15 years before his arrest, and for 2 weeks when he was released. It was quite an experience to be in the house of this great icon of South Africa. Here are a couple of shots of his old place.
Next, we made our way to the Hector Pieterson Museum... Hector Pieterson was a 12-year old boy who was shot during the June 1976 student protests. Below is the picture that was taken , which showed Hector's lifeless body being carried by another youth, and accompanied by his sister. His tragic death led to more violent protests across the country, and the beginning of the youth activism against Apartheid rule in South Africa.