Johannesburg/Soweto

Soweto is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Soweto is an increasingly popular destination for travellers from around the world, and is home of the Nelson Mandela National Museum.

Understand
The name Soweto was first used in 1963 to describe the groups of townships to the south west of Johannesburg and is an acronym for South Western Townships. These townships were established after an outbreak of bubonic plague in the inner city slums of Johannesburg in 1904, but under the apartheid government, many black South Africans were forcefully relocated from the city and its suburbs to Soweto and other townships.

Get in
Most visitors take a tour to Soweto from their Johannesburg hotel. However, you can do Soweto independently, either by car or suburban rail.

Take a tour or just drive in yourself using GPS set to Vilakazi Street... the road infrastructure and signage are excellent. Alternatively, take a MetroRail suburban train from Johannesburg Park station bound for either Naledi (for northern Soweto), Oberholzer or Vereeniging (for southern Soweto). There are many stations in Soweto, so check out first which one serves your destination. Close to the Nancefield station is the Maponya Mall where you can join the Sowetan middle classes as they entertain themselves with retail and movies!

Unless you are with Soweto locals, you probably do not want to stray from the tourist-friendly Orlando West area (served by Phefeni train station) on your own. Soweto is huge, and those without an African complexion will feel very conspicuous.

Get around
Most choose to visit Soweto as part of an official tour group by a SATSA-accredited tour guide.

Several tour operators are available:
 * Imbizo Tours. Tel:+27 (0)11 838-2667.
 * Soweto By Nite . Tel:+27 (0)82 748 1588.
 * Soweto.co.za. Tel:+27 (0)11 326 1700.
 * Mandela's Soweto. Tel:+27 (0)84 840 2847. Professional tour guides using luxury minivans.
 * Soweto Voyage. Tel:"+27" (0)82 818 1010. Soweto-based tour operator offering fully guided day and night tours of this chaotic but otherwise energetic and vibrant place. Tours use private cars and minibuses and include visits to many cultural, heritage and historical places including buffet lunch/ dinner/ supper. Night shebeen tours are also on offer. e-mail: info@sowetovoyage.co.za

See




Do



 * Walk through Baragwanath Taxi rank area and eat some "Runnaways" (chicken feet) with the locals or try some "Smily's" (grilled sheep's head)
 * Visit a real Shebeen (drinking place), not just the touristy places
 * Be seen at the Soweto Wine Festival, the most successful trend-setting annual lifestyle event held in Soweto.
 * Be seen at the Soweto Wine Festival, the most successful trend-setting annual lifestyle event held in Soweto.

Stay safe
By and large, contrary to popular belief, Soweto is a pretty safe place for tourists to visit. It is not the easiest place to drive around in by yourself, so if you are going to stay there overnight, get the bed and breakfast owner to meet you on one of the main roads and follow the owner in or get a transfer in. If you are going to do a tour, go with one of the registered tour companies (see above or contact SATSA). Try to make sure that the tour company is using a local Soweto/Johannesburg guide as that makes a better insight to the place and its history.