May 14, 2003

JOBURGERS must have wondered if royalty was in town on Tuesday. A convoy of two large tourist buses and a smaller press bus were shepherded around Soweto, being herded by police vehicles with their loud sirens holding back traffic at major intersections.

The occasion was a diplomatic tour hosted Johannesburg City Parks (JCP), showing off their recent work in Soweto to some 14 ambassadors, high commissioners and their wives from 42 countries in a day that combined a look at some of the city's painful past with the rejuvenation of Soweto's wonderful open spaces.

Countries across the globe were represented, including Sweden, Argentina, Jordan, Malaysia, Singapore, Kuwait, Mexico, Cuba and Japan; countries in Africa were also represented: Sudan, Mozambique, DRC, Morocco, Angola and others.

The diplomats were told to dress casually and maybe the dress affected the mood: there was a jovial, holiday mood with people out to enjoy the day and learn as much as possible, and judging by the smiles in the group photo at the end of the day, they certainly did.

The tour started at the very pleasant Johannesburg Botanic Gardens in Emmarentia. First stop from there was Hero's Acre at Avalon Cemetery in Soweto, a cemetery that buries more than any other people in the world at over 200 a week, according to JCP's MD Luther Williamson.

Hero's Acre, reserved for apartheid struggle heroes, is an area of the huge cemetery that has a dramatic greatness about it with a collection of striking headstones, among them Communist Party leader and Housing Minister in South Africa's first democratic government, Joe Slovo, buried under a large slab of stone with an unmarked upright headstone bearing the Communist hammer and sickle. Rivonia triallists Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni and many others are buried close by.

There are plans to exhume bodies from other parts of the Cemetery and re-bury them in this section: human rights stalwart Helen Joseph and 1976 Soweto hero Hector Pieterson, the most prominent.

The 172-hectare Avalon Cemetery has a lifespan of another 4-5 years. In the meantime 250 hectares of land has been bought at Eikenhof, another 10 kimotres further south, for a new cemetery. In an effort to save space at Avalon, two coffins are now being buried in one grave, the first going down two metres, and second one metre, says Wilson Mbutini, District Manager of Cemeteries.

Graves of struggle heroes in Avalon Cemetery

Some members of the tour group felt that this start to the tour was unexpected but entirely appropriate. "It was somewhat surprising to start at Avalon, it was very dramatic to introduce us to the history of the country by starting here. It was very poignant," said diplomat Yongini Raj Kumar of Singapore, afterwards. She said she expected to go to a museum to start the tour.

The tour buses then made their way to Thokoza Park and Moroka Dam , two severely neglected areas in Soweto but now showcase green spots where Sowetans enjoy braais and picnics every weekend. A series of curved half-metre high walls with convenient built-in braais have been built down the centre of the lower half of the Park, making for very pleasant outdoor spaces.

The Dam is sparkling again, and water trickles happily from the Dam through the Park, lined with well-established weeping willows. The cornerstone of the whole project was community involvement, and it's easy to see why they're very happy with the result.

Another landmark of Soweto that the group visited is the conical Oppenheimer Tower in the Ernest Oppenheimer Park in Central Western Jabavu, built in 1957 with money donated by mining magnate Ernest Oppenheimer. It's an impressive brick structure of around 30 metres in height, providing a wonderful view of the township. The bricks were taken from demolished Sophiatown houses, where forced removals took place from 1955 onwards, and people moved to Soweto.

The Park is filled with indigenous trees and shrubs, many of medicinal value. Alongside the Tower is a curious and mythical collection of buildings and sculptures by Credo Mutwa, prominent painter, sculptor, environmentalist, herbalist, prophet and author, now living in KwaZulu-Natal. Although now damaged and suffering from neglect, this spiritual place still retains the power the sculptures were originally meant to convey.

It was an interesting place to stop for lunch.

The next stop had the visitors again take on a respectful silence - a wreath was laid at the Hector Pieterson Memorial. A short history of the events of 16 June 1976 was given, followed by a quick walk around the adjoining Hector Pieterson Museum, its striking, blown-up images bringing home to the visitors one of the country's most painful days in its struggle for democracy.

It was back on the bus again and back into the city, with the convoy again surrounded by police vehicles and flashing lights and screaming sirens. The executive mayor, Amos Masondo, welcomed the diplomats to his chamber and handed them gifts

Masondo said: "Some of the projects undertaken by City Parks have shown you a city at work to change its image, to create more open spaces, to transform the City of Johannesburg into a city where its people can live, work and play."

Francesca Patricio, wife of the high commissioner from Mozambique, said the tour was "very good but a little short". She was particularly impressed with the Hector Pieterson Museum. Others said that the tour had just whetted their appetites to explore more of Johannesburg and its history.