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Soweto is filled with bleak cityscapes and alleyways that recall its history as one of the battlefields of apartheid.
But the sprawling town of Johannesburg also has a more serene, folkloric side, one that local entrepreneurs portray to curious tourists.
Every Sunday morning, Masike Lebele takes about 20 hikers on a walk through his childhood neighborhood, letting them see the landscape where countryside, abandoned gold mines, trash and deep-seated folk beliefs all coexist. .
“This was my playground,” said Levere, a nervous 40-year-old in a leopard-print shirt and floppy hat.
“I was adventurous when I was a kid,” he said. His eyes were sharp and his smile on his face.
“We used to hunt and gather here,” he says, pointing to a dam beside an abandoned gold mine. “We learned to swim here.”
The starting point of the walk is the local tavern “Chevien”, built in a house that belonged to my grandmother.
Our recent hike on the 6.5 km (4 mile) route started early in the morning.
A dozen friends accompanied the group for safety.
Walkers crossed streets strewn with trash and old tires, lined with stalls selling fresh fruit and snacks.
“This is where Soweto starts,” says Rufno Matiza, the guide’s elegant partner, wearing futuristic glasses, large earrings, and bright pink lipstick.
The silhouette of the skyscrapers of Johannesburg emerged in the distance, and it was like a different world.
A wasteland dotted with reeds descended towards the stream.
“Sangomas” is the Zulu word for traditional healer. “Think of this first part as a sacred place,” Masike asked hikers to speak quietly.
“Secrets of Soweto”
A naked man sat quietly by the stream, while six others in robes sang a melody. A little further on, her three women in shawls lit colored candles, which melted on the rocks.
A scream broke the silence. “What is that?” asked a worried pedestrian.
“It’s the one who roars and reaches out to the ancestors,” Matiza replied succinctly without breaking her stride.
The trail cuts through mountains of golden mine tailings, sometimes with streaks of chemical blue.
Over a century of plundering the earth for gold has left Soweto with a strange but compelling legacy.
Contamination from mine dumps was common, and erosion created unstable galleries of compacted sand.
“The gold is always here,” said Lubele, who said he had a deep attachment to the seemingly desolate landscape.
At the exit of the ocher gallery, there was a plateau of yellow sand.
“This is where we became masters of kung fu. We fought each group we met,” recalls the tattooed Levere.
The height of the dumped earth offers spectacular views of Soweto, punctuated by streets lined with a grid of tiny homes.
“This is our home,” Matiza said.
As the birthplace of apartheid, Soweto supports a thriving tourism industry and boasts museums, shebeens and tours of the streets where two Nobel Prize winners (Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu) lived.
But almost three decades after the arrival of democracy, the town is plagued with ailments ranging from poverty and unemployment to substance abuse and crime.
Christo Welgemoed, 62, who lives just six miles (11 kilometers) from Soweto, said the hike broadened his horizons.
“If I hadn’t heard about this hike in my local post, I wouldn’t have come here,” he told AFP.
“We usually go to nature, streams, mountains, etc., but this is a more cultural experience than usual.”
Noreen Wahomeh, 29, a Kenyan from Johannesburg, said she came for a walk out of love for “the untold story of Soweto.”
Levere said his Soweto Ndofaya hike was booked weeks in advance.
“People think mine dumps are dangerous places, but this is a fun place to explore,” he said.
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