Soweto Township Tours

Overview of Soweto Township Tours

About Soweto

Soweto is an urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. The name "Soweto" is an abbreviation for South Western Townships. It has been estimated that 40% of Johannesburg's residents live in Soweto. The population in Soweto is predominantly black, with the main linguistic groups being Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Venda and Tsonga.

Places to see and things to do

Soweto is a community of extremes. On the one hand there is severe poverty and suffering, and on the other hand there are the extraordinary wealth in the upper class suburbs.

Tours to Soweto generally combines cultural activities and historical landmarks, with experienced guides taking tourists on a unforgettable tour in this dynamic Township.

• Freedom Square (Kliptown)
  
  Freedom Square is the where the signing of the historic Freedom Charter by anti-apartheid organizations was conducted in 1955.
  
  
• Hector Pieterson Museum and Memorial
  
  Hector Pietersen (1964 - 16 June 1976) became an iconic image of the 1976 Soweto Uprising, where school children protested over the imposition of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in township schools. A news photograph by Sam Mzima of the dying Hector being carried by a fellow student was published around the world. Hector was killed at the age of 12 when the police opened fire on the protesting students. By the end of that day, 556 children had been killed.
  
  For years, 16 June stood as a symbol of the resistance to the apartheid government. Today, it is know as National Youth Day.
  
  
• Mandela House Museum
  
  Nelson Mandela's humble little house in Orlando West, Soweto, is now known as the Mandela Family Museum, and is an interesting stop-over for those who are keen on learning more about arguable the world's most famour former prisoner.
  
  The Mandela House Museum features a visitors' centre, ablution facilities and the small museum.
  
  
• Vilikazi Street
  
  Vilikazi street is one of South Africa's most famous street, and the only one in the world to have housed two Nobel Prize winners: Nelson Mandela and Archibishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
  
  
• First National Bank Stadium (also known as FNB Stadium or Soccer City)
  
  This football-specific stadium can seat 78 000 people in plastic bucket seats, and provides the third largest capacity in Africa. Designed with a visible inspiration from traditional african pottery, the stadium was the venue for the opening match for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa.
  
  
• Kliptown Youth Program
  
• Baragwanath Taxi Rank
  
• Regina Mundi Church
  
• Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital