2005 South Africa – Soweto
During our last few days in Johannesburg, we went on a Soweto tour with Themba, our delightful driver and his combi van. He was so happy and entertaining with his favourite expression being “money like dust” when referring to the wealthier inhabitants of Soweto. He must have said it 50 times. There were some very poor areas which looked terrible to me but Federika had seen worse in Peru where she grew up. We stopped off at a market where Themba showed us lots of vegetables we had not seen before and some sheep heads which I had seen before but usually attached to sheep. There was a caravan which looked like it had rolled down an embankment several times. Its door was hanging off and on the side, it advertised “Fast Food and Public Phones.” It looked like it had been abandoned but our driver assured us it was still in use and being towed around. 
We stopped in one area where five young children in bare feet were playing happily. As soon as they saw us, they ran over and started dancing. When they had finished Themba reached into a big bag of lollipops and gave them a handful which to them was more precious than gold. We wanted to give them some money but Themba told us not to. 
Not far down the road, two children treated us to a rendition of the South African national anthem while they held their left hand to their hearts. We would have gone on that tour just to see their performance it was so moving.
Our last stop was Nelson Mandela House where he lived from aged 28 until he was arrested and put in prison aged 44. When he was released from prison 27 years later he insisted on going back to the house to live although he didn’t stay there long. It was a very modest house but being built of brick it must have been quite grand compared to the wooden shacks that most people lived in. There were a lot of exhibits to see including and painting of a black Virgin Mary holding a black baby Jesus. Other exhibits included a boxing belt given to Nelson Mandela from the world champion Sugar Ray Leonard and a special tribute from the USA apologising for providing intelligence to the South African government which led to Mandela’s arrest and the subsequent 28 years in prison. The house was a fitting tribute to one of the greatest men in history and I was very happy to have visited it.
With great sadness, our holiday came to an end and we said goodbye to David and Laura having no idea when we would see them again. At least we could keep in touch regularly by email which I doubt we would have done with letters. Back at work, I was summoned to my line manager’s office where she had to give me an official telling off but it was obvious that her heart wasn’t in it. She was the school’s accountant and they had taken her for granted as much as me. I was given an official warning in a tone that said they would never dismiss me even if it was possible with the strict labour laws.
Now we come to the end of our South African adventure 2004 and it is time for me to say “hamba kahle” until next time.
2005 South Africa
