For a long time it was a symbol of oppression, but Soweto has a remarkable spirit of freedom – drink beer at the car wash, “celebrate” at a funeral and watch out for wedding tents in the street.

IT’S said that those born and brought up in Soweto never truly leave, such is its magnetic pull.

The Hector Pieterson Memorial

Soweto’s iconic status on the world stage is linked to its place in the struggle against apartheid. For those who are not from South Africa’s largest township it is a place of history – the place where Hector Pieterson fell in the 1976 uprising; the place where the Freedom Charter was signed in 1955; and the home of two Nobel Peace Prize winners.

But Soweto is so much more – for its residents it’s a place to call home.

Soweto’s “buy and braai” spots, or kwashisanyama, are a favourite pastime of many, both young and old. Mainly located outside butcheries which, incidentally, are also found quite close to bars and nightclubs dotted around the township, one can spoil oneself with a sirloin, T-bone steak or rump steak and boerewors on the side. And of course the meal wouldn’t be complete without a steaming plate of pap (thick porridge made from maize meal) or uphuthu (a much stiffer version of pap) on the side to take down with the braaied meat.

Visit KaPanyaza, the buy and braai spot just outside one of Soweto’s most popular nightspots, The Rock nightclub in Rockville, on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and experience the township’s vibe. Discover Soweto’s well-to-do, celebrities and ordinary Sowetans lounging and wiling away time in their posh cars in the parking area and having a good time. Here laidback, soul music will be wafting from the sound system of one car while over there another, with its boot wide open, will be blaring out the latest house or kwaito music. Beer flows and KaPanyana, only an arms length away, provides a good meal for an empty stomach. One can buy meat and have it braaied by KaPanyaza staff. If beer runs out, The Rock Nightclub is only a stone’s throw away …

In recent years, Soweto has seen numerous formal drinking establishments like The Rock, The Backroom and Masakheng Pub springing up. But the shebeens, those private dwellings turned into liquor-selling outlets, are still the favourite of many. Found on almost every corner of the sprawling township, almost all these once-illicit outlets have been replaced by the more respectable nom de plume, “tavern”. These licensed “shebeens” offer comfort and a decent place to enjoy local and international music, a drink or a traditional African meal at an affordable price.

Visit Robby’s Restaurant and Tavern in Pimville, and experience Soweto’s contemporary shebeen. Robby's Place caters for locals and tourists from outside the township. Like the popular Wandie’s Place in Dube, Robby’s Tavern is a great place for an outing with friends and you can latch onto the latest Soweto gossip while sipping your favourite beer or tucking away on some pap and vleis (meat) or umnqushu (a mixture of beans and samp).

However, there still exists some unlicenced “taverns” where one can find almost every character in Soweto – college students, the unemployed, teachers, taxi drivers and the inevitable mashonisa (loan shark) who normally does a roaring business during mid-month. Here, one can buy the cheaper ngudu (quart of beer) and sit on a beer crate to enjoy good conversation with total strangers.

The “car wash” has taken on a new meaning to most people in Soweto. It is no longer where a car-owner can take his or her car to get a valet cleaning on a Saturday or Sunday morning, it has become a meeting area where friends have a chance to catch up on the latest gossip and where guzzlers have a chance to get rid of their ibhabhalazi (hangover) with “a pint or two” of beer and a plate of braaied meat while their cars get a wash. It is no surprise that one can find a car wash located close to bottle stores or kwashisanyama.

Moroka Dam is a popular recreation area where people from ekasi usually bloma

Moroka Dam and Thokoza Park, located within the vicinity of the townships of Rockville and Moroka, is one popular recreation area where people from ekasi (township) usually bloma (chill out) on weekends and public holidays. Revamped by the City of Johannesburg a few years ago, Moroka Dam and Thokoza Park attract revellers who bring camping chairs, cooler boxes and cook meat on braai stands dotted around the area. It is also an excellent venue for wedding photo shoots and outdoor parties.

Still on weddings, Soweto has a unique way to celebrate these highly significant events. Drive around the township, especially on any public holiday, and it is likely that you will encounter a white tent pitched slap-bang in the middle of a street. In most cases, a visitor does not need an invitation to join in the proceedings which are a very colourful affair. A trip to Thokoza Park or any park in Soweto for photo shoots will usually see a string of cars bedecked with decorations weave its way around streets, hooters honking and bridesmaids hanging precariously from car windows, swaying away to music blaring from car radios.

One other occasion which is held in a similar grandiose manner in Soweto is a funeral. Soweto’s burial ground, Avalon Cemetery, is located on the southern border of the township. Saturday and Sundays are usually set aside for funerals and the streets become crowded with funeral processions heading to or coming from the cemetery. Most funerals in Soweto are almost celebratory in character with “after tears” parties being held immediately after the funeral, depending on the financial status of the bereaved family. Here, food and drink are in abundance and people can party till the wee hours in celebration of the life of the deceased. It is also during such occassions that Sowetans have a chance to dress “to kill” in their best clothes.

A short history of Soweto
Like all townships, it was created as a racially separate place of residence for South Africans. Despite this, its first suburb, Kliptown , established in 1903, was a place where blacks, Indians, Chinese and whites lived together amicably. It was far out in the country then, some 25km from the city centre, and had a slightly Bohemian feel. A taste of what South Africa could have been like if segregation had not skewed race relations in the country.

Local entrepreneurs are dotted around the township

Kliptown residents owned their own homes in those days, but in the 1980s their houses were expropriated by the West Rand Administration Board and they became tenants in their own homes. They subsequently made illegal additions to their houses, renting out these rooms. Others took over their backyards, erecting tin shanties, and the township became overcrowded and squalid, a feature of other suburbs in Soweto.

Waves of people were moved to Soweto as apartheid administrators cleared formerly black areas of old Joburg to make way for whites. Residents of Newtown, then Brickfields, were moved to Kliptown, just as residents of Sophiatown were moved to Meadowlands.

Soweto got its name in the 1960s, and is an acronym for “south western townships”. It consists of several dozen suburbs, stretching for kilometres in a residential sprawl that characterises much of Joburg.

In recent years much has been done to tackle problems such as poor housing, overcrowding, high unemployment and poor infrastructure. Apartheid planning did not provide much in terms of infrastructure or recreational or shopping facilities.

Now economic hubs are being developed along with recreational facilities like parks.

One of the 2010 legacy projects underway in Soweto is the planting of thousands of trees.

Shopping at the Maponya Mall in Klipspruit

Formerly just rows of unimaginative box houses, Soweto now has a number of shopping malls. The latest, Maponya Mall, was opened by Nelson Mandela in 2007, and boasts an eight-cinema complex.

Did you know?
Soweto has produced the highest number of professional soccer teams in the country. Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and Moroka Swallows all emerged from the township, and remain among the biggest soccer teams in the Premier Soccer League.