This is South Africa’s most famous township and home to over 4 million people. It was created during the apartheid era when black's were not allowed to live in Johannesburg and lived in the townships outside in dismal conditions. Today it is a thriving metropolitan with low, middle and upmarket housing. It is still primarily a residential area (more later) of non-whites who can now own land and self-govern.

We took a tour here on our final day in Jo’burg and met these wonderful kids during our visit to some local homes.

As you can see from this photo, at first glance, the area looks like any other close quarters of urban sprawl. Here you find Nelson’s Mandela’s home when he was imprisoned, Desmond Tutu’s home, the famous Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital where two Siamese twins were separated in the 1980’s, memorials and an infinite number of stories....

This is by far the most deep and moving picture that gripped the world and changed the fate of this country. On June 16, 1976 Hector Pieterson (age 14) was the first of many student casualties during the Soweto uprising. What started as a peaceful demonstration by the students against the government decree to have ‘Afrikaans’ (a version of Dutch still used by many residents today) as the language of school instruction in black schools became a bloody massacre. Police opened fire on the students' protest which sent a shockwave and increased unrest country-wide. The law was eventually reversed to have English as the language of instruction but the protestations against apartheid continued in the form of sabotage, civil unrest, etc.

This eventually led to the release of Mandela, removal of apartheid, freedom, democracy, unity, and reconciliation of 1994.

This monument and museum is in memory of Pieterson and all who lost their life in the struggle.

These are the hostels, a mass housing complex in the townships. Many others live in small shacks with tin roofs which are hot in the summer, cold in the winter and not fully protected from rain. We visited one shack/home of a lady named Elizabeth who was warm and charming and praying for a house (any size she explained) and a garden of her own. We were told that there are long waiting lists but that new housing is being built all the time.

On a lighter note, there is much play, fun & singing going on!

Although Soweto is primarily a residential area, many enterprising individuals have ‘home businesses’. This was a sidewalk Barber Shop, with customers waiting in line!