Half Day Soweto Tour

SoWeTo; short for 'South Western Townships', is a sprawling township, or as the name describes, a cluster of townships on the south-western flank of Johannesburg. With a population of over 2 million, the township is the biggest black urban settlement in Africa and has a rich political history.

Soweto was the centre of political campaigns aimed at overthrowing the apartheid state. The 1976 student uprising started in Soweto and spread to the rest of the country. Many of the sights on this tour's route therefore have political significance.

The tour explores sights such as the one from the footbridge of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the largest hospitals on the continent, from where one can get a panoramic view of Soweto.

We also visit the Hector Pieterson Museum in Orlando West, Soweto, built in memory of the people who died on the 16 June 1976.

Nelson Mandela's humble little house in Orlando West, Soweto, now called the Mandela Family Museum, is an interesting stopover for those keen to imbibe a slice of authentic history on the world's most famous former prisoner.

The museum, a house comprising four inter-leading rooms, contains a rather eclectic assortment of memorabilia, paintings and photographs of the Mandela family as well as a collection of honorary doctorates bestowed on Nelson Mandela from universities and institutions around the world.

On the tour you can also have a glimpse of the mansion belonging to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in an affluent part of Orlando West. Archbishop Desmond Tutu's house and the Sisulu residences are also all in the same neighbourhood.