Soweto is a township outside of Pretoria. I have known of Soweto since 2010 because I had the good fortune of working a Soweto Gospel Choir concert in college. I remember loving the energy, and loving every second of it. However, I am disappointed to say, that is all I thought of Soweto. I pursued no further research, accepting this choir as a national ambassador for South Africa. Perhaps that is best.
My aunt and I left for Soweto on a guided tour early in the morning. What I hadn't heard about Soweto was how unsafe is was supposed to be. Furthermore, the embassy does not allow officials or family of officials to go there alone. A guide seemed to be the best option.
We passed Soccer City, home of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and home to the infamous vuvuzelas (I still need to buy one). Past Soccer City is the entrance to Soweto. At first glance, the streets are clean, the houses look new and everything appears to be much better than others would say it would be.
There comes a point where you turn to go into Soweto and the difference is stark. On the left side are the new houses from the RDP (Reconstruction Development Program) and on the right side are the older houses, falling apart with time.
We got to see the Regina Mundi Catholic Church. During apartheid, political meetings in public spaces were forbidden. In fact, our guide mentioned that even a car with the three of us in it would be stopped and questioned because a group of three people in the same car must have been discussing some sort of political, anti-apartheid matters. (On a side note, even when passing from Pretoria into Johannesburg, we would have been stopped at the border and asked to present our race cards, indicating who we were, what race we were and what business we had in Johannesburg. If the employer listed on the card did not give reason for us to be in Johannesburg, we wouldn't be allowed in). During apartheid, since political meetings were forbidden, churches became the place to discuss these matters. Regina Mundi became one of those meeting places.
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, students of Soweto protested the use of Afrikaans as the language and medium of instruction in school. These students had no background in Afrikaans and all of a sudden, every class- from mathematics to science- is taught to you in Afrikaans. During this uprising, students were protesting when the police opened fire. A thing to note is that many of these students were shot in the back, indicating that they were fleeing the scene when they were hit. Many of those that were hit ran to Regina Mundi for refuge, where the police followed them and continued shooting. Evidence is still seen in the church. A part of the tabernacle is broken off and a good portion of the marble barrier between the pews and the altar is missing from the students fleeing and the police in pursuit. Some of the pews still have bullet holes.
From there, we visited Mandela's House. He lived here before and immediately after his captivity at Robben Island. Shortly after being released from Robben Island and returning to his home, he had to move for security purposes. The home was mostly kept in its original condition and items that needed to be replaced, were replaced by replicas. In the middle of the house was a line where Winnie Mandela had built a brick wall through the middle of the house to protect her family. If the home was being terrorized from the front, she and the kids would hide on the other side of the wall and vice versa.
Our final stop was the Hector Pieterson Memorial. It was interesting to note that Hector was not the first child to be killed as the fled the police, rather he was shot nearest to the international media, leading to the photograph (included) which circulated worldwide and showed the struggle of South Africans in the apartheid struggle. The monument featured a ton of symbolism, from the space between the walls (reminiscent of the mothers looking through the windows hoping for their children to come home) to the cracks in the ground for the fountain's water to pass through (in remembrance of their blood washing away).
It was an extremely informative day, and an emotional one, trying to sort through the history of what happened and some of the things that have still not changed in Soweto. I didn't feel as unsafe as I anticipated, based on all the warnings we had. Actually, I felt quite safe. It's a lot to process and surely will take me a while, but if anything, the trip showed me a side of South Africa that I had seen in museums, but hadn't truly felt until today.
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Soweto es un municipio a lado de Pretoria. Yo he sabido de Soweto desde el 2010 porque tuve la buena fortuna de trabajar en un concierto del Soweto Gospel Choir en la uni. Recuerdo que amé a la energía y cada segundo del concierto. Desafortunadamente, tengo que decir que eso era todo lo que pensé de Soweto. No busqué más información, aceptando al coro como embajador nacional de Sudáfrica. Quizás fue por lo mejor.
Mi tía y yo salimos por Soweto en un tour guiado temprano en la mañana. Lo que no supe de Soweto era lo inseguro quite supuestamente era. Ni la embajada permite alos oficiales ni a familiares viajar allá solos. Un guía parecia mejor.
Pasamos por Soccer City, donde tuvieron las ceremonias de apertura y clausura de la Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2010 y dondese encontraban las vuvuzelas (que aún tengo que comprar una). Pasando Soccer City se encuentra la entrada a Soweto. A la primera vista, las calles están limpias, las casas parecen ser nuevas y todo aparece mucho mejor de lo que dice la gente.
Llega un punto que www.dar la vuelta para entrar a Soweto que la diferencia es fuerte. S la izquierda se encuentran las casas fundadas por el gobierno y a la derecha están las viejas que se derrumben con el tiempo.
Fuimos a la Iglesia católica Regina Mundi. Duranteel apartheid, los conjuntos políticos eran prohibidos. Era tanto, que nuestro guía comentó que en esos tiempos, las policías nos hubiera parado por una inquieta porque un grupo de tres en coche tendrían que estar hablando sobre cosas políticas contra el apartheid. (También hay que mencionar que en esos tiempos, también nos hubieron parado en la frontera entre Johannesburgo y Pretoria para pedirnos nuestras tarjetas de raza qie indicaban nombre, raza y porque tendríamos derecho a entrar a Johannesburgo. Si nuestro empleo en la tarjeta no indicaba que derecho teníamos en Johannesburgo, no permiten el paso). Durante el apartheid, como no se permitían juntar políticas, la gente hablaba sobre estas temas en la iglesia. Regina Mundi era unos de estos lugares.
Durante los Disturbios de Soweto en el 1976, los estudiantes de Soweto marchaban contra el uso del Afrikaans como idioma escolar. Estos alumnos no entendían el idioma y de repente, cada clase - desde matemáticas a ciencias - era en Afrikaans. Durante los Disturbios, alumnos estuvieron protestando cuando la Policía comenzó a disparar. Una cosa que notar es que muchos de estos estudiantes fueron disparados en la espalda, indicando que estaban huyendo cuando los dispararon. Muchos fueron a Regina Mundi para encontrar refugio, y la Policía los persiguió. Aún de nos en la iglesia. Una parte del tabernaculo se cayó, igual que el barandal de mármol por los estudiantes que huyeron cuando entro la policia. Algunas de las bandas aún están marcadas con los tiros.
De allí fuimos a la casa de Mandela. Vivió allí antes y justo después de su tiempo en la Isla Robben. Justo después de ser liberado, se regreso a está cada antes de tener que ir a otra por su seguridad. Más que nada, la casa sigue igual con algunas cosas reemplazadas con réplicas. En medio de la casa hubo una línea donde Winnie Mandela había construido una pared our el centro de la casa para proteger ala familia. Si atacaban la casa de enfrente, de escondían al otro lado de la pared y viceversa.
La última parada era en la Memorial de Héctor Pieterson. Es interesante porque Héctor no era el primer chiquillo a fallecer huyendo de la policía, sino que era el que dispararon cerca a los medios de comunicación. De allí salió la foto (incluido) que circuló por todo el mundo para enseñar la lucha de los sudafricanos durante el apartheid. El monumento tenía un montón de simbolismo incluyendo en espacio entre las paredes (para recordar a las madres que miraban por sus ventanas, esperando ej regreso de sus hijos) hasta las aberturas en el suelo, permitiendo al agua pasar para limpiar la sangre de las calles.
Era un día muy informativo, igual que un día emocional, por tratar de procesar tíos la historia y las vías que han, y que no han, cambiado en Soweto. Es mucho para procesar, pero por lo menos me enseñó una parte de Sudáfrica que había visto en los museos, mas que no había sentido hasta hoy.
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