Johannesburg is a city of contrasts, there are sharp differences between the rich and the poor. I was there for a conference and my first impressions were favourable as the train to the hotel was straightforward and moved through a fascinating landscape. There were old fashioned power stations and houses scattered well into the distance.
Our hotel was in a well protrolled shopping area which would not be out of place back home. However when taking the coach to the University of Johannesburg we could see a great deal of begging taking place at the traffic junctions. We did get a chance to see the area including the townships as one of the lecturers Kris showed us around. He had a great knowledge of football and took time to show us the townships around Spohia Town where several premier footballers started out. Sophia Town also had the chilling history of being one of the first sites where people of different colour were moved to the townships.
Christ the King – Sophiatown where many anti apartheid rebels sought sanctuary from the Government
This wonderful statue was on Constitutional Hill.
Another interesting place was near to Melville and it was called 27 boxes. It was a container village that had become a centre for arts and crafts. There were many small businesses located there.
Our conference reception was a very interesting affair and we were greeted by a lady playing the violin in a plastic bubble. There was even someone dressed as a table serving desert. These were students of the Hospitality and tourism and they were eager to please.
At the official dinner we were treated to some fantastic African dancers.
Although there was work to be done in the conference, we did have a day out to visit Soweto and visited the Hector Pieterson Museum and Nelson Mandela’s house, 8115 in Soweto. All very memorable places to visit. On the final day after the conference finished, we jumped on the hop-on and hop-off bus. It gave use the chance to visit Constitutional Hill and the Apartheid Museum both of which raised stirring emotions not only of the period of British rule but also the past transgressions of the White government that imposed the evil of apartheid. The present society is fractured but it is trying its best to rectify itself and move forward. I left with some incredible memories of a place that is so different to normal cities that I have visited.
