Historical Tour

In 1955 the Congress of the People met at Walter Sisulu Square to present the Freedom Charter, a statement of principles calling for a non-racial, free and democratic South Africa, which forms the basis of South Africa’s constitution today. On one side of the square an open-air museum explains how the Freedom Charter was written in a collaborative effort made by thousands of South Africans of all races. The conical brick tower at the centre of the square is a monument to the document itself and contains the full principles of the charter engraved in bronze.In 1955 the Congress of the People met at Walter Sisulu Square to present the Freedom Charter, a statement of principles calling for a non-racial, free and democratic South Africa, which forms the basis of South Africa’s constitution today. On one side of the square an open-air museum explains how the Freedom Charter was written in a collaborative effort made by thousands of South Africans of all races. The conical brick tower at the centre of the square is a monument to the document itself and contains the full principles of the charter engraved in bronze.

Probably the most famous street in all of Soweto, Vilakazi Street lays claim to two Nobel prize-winning residents – Nelson Mandela (who lived here with his then wife Winnie in the late 1950s and early 1960s) and Rev. Desmond Tutu who still divides his time between his official Cape Town residence and his modest house on the corner of Bacela Street. At the top of Vilakazi Street don’t miss The Box Shop (7166-7176 Vilakazi St), an eye-catching cube of a building built entirely from shipping containers that houses a boutique chockful of fabulous local fashion labels, skin care products, and accessories and on the second floor, with a terrace overlooking the street, Kofi, Soweto’s first coffee roasters.

This deeply moving museum is unquestionably Soweto’s best. Named after one of the first schoolchildren to be killed by the police during the Soweto uprising of 1976, the museum focuses on the events leading up to the uprising, offering an examination of what took place on that fateful day, June 16. Startling pictures, personal testimonies and videos are used to great effect and numerous informative texts provide an in-depth explanation of the causes and after-effects of the unrest.

Rockville’s Catholic Church built in 1964 has played a hugely significant role in the struggle against Apartheid and even has the bullet holes to prove it. During the student uprising in 1976 students fled here for refuge from Orlando Stadium where they had gathered, and were followed inside by policemen who fired live ammunition into the building. This is South Africa’s largest Catholic Church with space for 2000 seated people and standing room for 5000. The site continues to be an important historical monument. It was in this place that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, a powerful and much loved leader and outspoken human rights activist, presided over the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings from 1995 to 1998. Michelle Obama also visited in 2011 to address young leaders.

This museum and centre of memory and dialogue is the first institution of its kind that brings together the stories of genocide across two continents, creating parallels between the historical narratives of the genocide committed by Nazi Germany in World War II Europe and the more recent genocide that occurred on African soil in Rwanda in 1994 (the year of South Africa’s transition from apartheid rule to democracy). The Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre takes its message from the writings of death camp survivor Primo Levi: “It happened, therefore it can happen again” and seeks to be a permanent reminder of the dangers of indifference.