We started our day with a drive through the sprawling suburbs of Johannesburg, down the curving hills, into the city. This area is at a very high elevation, with dry golden-colored soil, scrubby plant life, and lots of large trees. It's clearly a major industrial city, with trucks and factories and warehouses all spread throughout the city. The downtown itself has several large buildings, including Africa's tallest skyscraper, built in the 1970s. In fact, much of the city looks like it was built decades ago.
Our first stop was at the city courthouse. In his early days as a lawyer, this is the courthouse where Nelson Mandela first practiced law, as one of South Africa's very few Black lawyers. His old office building, now spruced up, is still standing across from the courthouse. His actual office window is the one with the green sign in it.
There is a large sculpture of Mandela in front of the courthouse. The sculpture is of Mandela as a boxer, taken from a photo of him as a youth. Everywhere we go in this city, we see Mandela's face. His picture is on the wall in many businesses, and his great work is memorialized throughout society.
The city of Johannesburg was built up on the mining industry. Gold was discovered here in the 1880s, and it has been a rich source of gold, platinum, and diamonds ever since. In the days of Apartheid, many workers were imported here from around the country to work in the mines. This lead to the rise of huge townships, including the largest and most politically active township in South Africa, the famous Soweto. There are reminders of the city's mining past everywhere, with huge piles of mining tailings just dumped in human-made mountains throughout the city. It's actually quite a problem, as gold mining was done with cyanide, and the tailings were never cleaned. When there is a heavy rain, the tailings run off into gullies, and put cyanide into the water table. And of course, being some of the open land in the area, families build informal shacks and live there. Here's a photo of what looks like a mountain, but is actually a pile of mine waste.
The descendants and families of those miners and other workers still live here. This urban area is huge, with more than 7 million people. White mini-buses are everywhere, as they are the main form of public transportation. They are really more like group taxis, and privately owned, but they are the largest force that moves people from place to place.
In 2010, South Africa was the host of the FIFA World Cup and the country is soccer-mad. We saw kids playing soccer by the side of the road, and kids wearing soccer hero clothes. We also saw the most important soccer stadium in South Africa, where they hosted the World Cup championships, and also had Nelson Mandela's family.
Our first stop was at the city courthouse. In his early days as a lawyer, this is the courthouse where Nelson Mandela first practiced law, as one of South Africa's very few Black lawyers. His old office building, now spruced up, is still standing across from the courthouse. His actual office window is the one with the green sign in it.
There is a large sculpture of Mandela in front of the courthouse. The sculpture is of Mandela as a boxer, taken from a photo of him as a youth. Everywhere we go in this city, we see Mandela's face. His picture is on the wall in many businesses, and his great work is memorialized throughout society.
The city of Johannesburg was built up on the mining industry. Gold was discovered here in the 1880s, and it has been a rich source of gold, platinum, and diamonds ever since. In the days of Apartheid, many workers were imported here from around the country to work in the mines. This lead to the rise of huge townships, including the largest and most politically active township in South Africa, the famous Soweto. There are reminders of the city's mining past everywhere, with huge piles of mining tailings just dumped in human-made mountains throughout the city. It's actually quite a problem, as gold mining was done with cyanide, and the tailings were never cleaned. When there is a heavy rain, the tailings run off into gullies, and put cyanide into the water table. And of course, being some of the open land in the area, families build informal shacks and live there. Here's a photo of what looks like a mountain, but is actually a pile of mine waste.
The descendants and families of those miners and other workers still live here. This urban area is huge, with more than 7 million people. White mini-buses are everywhere, as they are the main form of public transportation. They are really more like group taxis, and privately owned, but they are the largest force that moves people from place to place.
In 2010, South Africa was the host of the FIFA World Cup and the country is soccer-mad. We saw kids playing soccer by the side of the road, and kids wearing soccer hero clothes. We also saw the most important soccer stadium in South Africa, where they hosted the World Cup championships, and also had Nelson Mandela's family.
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