Johannesburg is the biggest city in South Africa, and its heartbeat. Many travellers skip past Jo’Burg (as it’s called) to head elsewhere; yet from hanging out in the city’s coolest bars and restaurants to learning some important history lessons, Jo’Burg and nearby Soweto have a lot to offer. Here are my picks for the 5 top things to do in Johannesburg.
#1 – Visit Soweto
South Africa’s most famous township has undergone a remarkable shift from turmoil to tourism. Things still aren’t perfect here – there is still large-scale unemployment amongst Soweto’s 2+ million residents and the Saturday funeral processions are still a depressingly regular occurrence – but the signs of change are there. Shopping malls and parklands have sprung up, while the increasingly large black middle class is choosing to stay and extend their home (rather than move away).
Soweto’s Hector Pieterson MemorialMy guide for the morning is Ted Taylor, who seems to know everyone that waves at the vehicle. He’s keen to point out the signs of hope and prosperity. There are squalid shacks, but Ted explains that the numbers of such ‘informal settlements’ are reducing every day and the people in them are being given proper, modern housing. He also highlights an entrepreneurial spirit such as street-side, canvas-covered hairdressing salons and the old shipping containers turned into takeaway outlets.
The key point in any Soweto tour, however, is the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum. Pieterson was the 13-year-old boy shot dead by police on the first day of what became to be known as the Soweto Uprising. That date – June 16, 1976 – is seen as a turning point in South African history. The image of a teenager carrying a child’s body out of the carnage went around the world, and international opinion of South Africa’s ‘anti-Coummunist’ government changed. The museum is utterly engrossing. It tells the story of Pieterson, the 18-year-old carrying him in the famous photo and the photographer.
Detail from Soweto’s Hector Pieterson MemorialMore importantly, it tells the story of how a peaceful protest against the introduction of Afrikaans as the teaching language in black schools turned into a bloodbath and chronicles the resistance that followed. A well-done tour of Soweto such as Ted’s is in equal parts educational, moving and inspiring.
You can visit with Viator’s half-day .
#2 – The Apartheid Museum
The second essential part in the South African history lesson comes in the often harrowing but hugely important Apartheid Museum. It traces the nation’s route to racist segregation – which started with the discovery of gold in what is now Johannesburg – and post 1994 – attempts to create an equal society for all.
For those who only known the vague outline of Apartheid South Africa, this museum fills in the details with absorbing clarity.
All the key figures are covered, while the videos of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and FW De Klerk announcing the unbanning of the African National Congress still bring a lump to the throat.
Visit with Viator’s Soweto & Apartheid Museum Tour.
#3 – Hang out in Melville
Most visitors to Johannesburg tend to migrate towards the well-heeled northern suburbs of Sandton and Rosebank. This is where the good hotels are, but the large shopping malls and security-gated properties can make both areas feel rather lifeless. Visitors wanting nightlife, a bit of character and a more multi-cultural vibe should head closer to the city – and specifically to Melville.
This suburb has the best of both worlds. It’s largely safe, but it has an instantly likeable energy. Laid back cocktail bars rub shoulders with book shops and vintage clothing stores, while the range of restaurants spans the globe.
Melville has a youthful character – it’s where lots of university students tend to go out – while a night out is wonderfully affordable. The bars are cool, many of the restaurants and cafés are excellent and there’s none of the snooty factor that pushes prices up in Sandton and Rosebank.
If you want to wash down food from Mozambique with tequilas from an authentic Mexican bar after sitting outside and people-watching, Melville is the place to do it.
#4 – Constitution Hill
When South Africa needed a new Constitutional Court, it could have been built anywhere. But as a symbolic gesture of the triumph of hope of over oppression, it was built on the site of a notorious jail.
The actual fort on what is now Constitution Hill was only used to detain white prisoners, but the attached block, known universally as Number Four, housed many political prisoners.
Among these was one Mohandas Gandhi. He later became famous for his peaceful resistance against the British in India, but most of his ideas on non-cooperation were formed in South Africa. Rebelling against laws that required Indians to show passes when going out of designated areas, Gandhi spent over seven months in Number Four between 1908 and 1913. The former visitor centre has been turned into a thought-provoking exhibition on his life and struggle in South Africa – it essentially sheds light on the great man’s formative years.
The Ghandi exhibit at Constitution HillBut it’s the conditions that black political prisoners endured that really stick in the memory. Stories are told through eye-witness accounts and quotes from key figures. The stories of inedible meals, frequent beatings, isolation cells and ritual humiliation are horrific.
One thing’s for sure – once you go around Number Four, you understand why the siting of the building that protects the new South Africa’s Bill of Rights is so significant.
#5 – The Origins Centre
Part of the Witwatersrand University in downtown Johannesburg, the Origins Centre delves into the history of humanity. And, more specifically how it came out of Africa. The centre explores fossil evidence of our ancestors living in Southern Africa up to 200,000 years ago, before going on to explore theories of how population strands spread across the road.
A significant portion of the exhibition space is devoted to the San (often known as the Bushmen). The San, who live largely in the northwest of South Africa and the Kalahari desert areas of Botswana, are thought to be the oldest remaining culture on the planet. Their DNA links back further than any other people on the planet.
The San’s spiritual belief and post-hunt ‘trance dance’ are also covered. The use of video throughout the centre is superb, while there are plenty of touch screens which explore the main concepts using child (and big child)-friendly computer games.
