Tourism Attractions in Soweto

Attractions

MANDELA HOUSE – www.mandelahouse.com
Located on 8115 Vilakazi Street, this is the only street in the world that was once home to two Noble Prize winners (former president Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu).Former South African President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and his family lived here from 1946 into the 1990’s. He donated the house to the Soweto Heritage Trust on 1 September 1997. The Mission of Mandela House is to provide an effective, efficient and meaningful experience to all visitors, informing them of President Nelson Mandela’s story, both in the context of his home, and in the context of his life as a whole, in a manner that promotes human rights, democracy, reconciliation, mutual respect and tolerance amongst the peoples of South Africa.
REGINA MUNDI CHURCH
On trip to Soweto is complete without a visit to Regina Mundi, Soweto’s largest Catholic Church. Not only has the vast church always been a spiritual haven for thousands of Sowetans, it has also played a pivotal role in the township’s history of resistance against apartheid. As such it is a well-circled destination on the tourist map: every day the church opens its doors to streams of visitors keen to witness the scars it still bears from the Soweto uprisings, when police stormed through its doors, firing live ammunition at fleeing students.But both before and after the dramas of the Soweto uprisings, Regina Mundi – whose name in Latin means Queen of the World – has quietly offered its protection to those struggling for liberation. When political meetings were banned, people sought the safety of Regina Mundi – if not Queen of the World, then surely Queen of Soweto – to form their political strategies. What started out as ‘church services’ often ended up as political rallies. Funerals, points out Father Vusi Mazibuko, who has been pastor at the church for the past four years, were often political affairs. They started off at Regina Mundi and ended up at Avalon Cemetery. When protesting students were fired at by police on their way to Orlando Stadium on June 16 1976, and Hector Pieterson and many others were killed, the students fled for sanctuary to Regina Mundi. With buckets of water at the ready, they managed to douse the teargas canisters thrown into the church by police. But then police stormed the church, firing live ammunition. Although no one was killed, many were injured and the church’s sacred symbols were damaged. The broken marble alter, the bullet holes in the ceilings and the damaged figure of Christ all bear testimony to the terrible lack of restraint shown by police that day.	The iconic Regina Mundi Church
WALTER SISULU SQUARE – www.waltersisulusquare.co.za
Kliptown, where the 1955 Freedom Charter was adopted as the guiding document of the African National Congress, was established in 1903. Today that guiding document forms the constitution of South Africa.	Walter Sisulu Square
HECTOR PETERSON MEMORIAL
This museum documents the riots that lead to the death of Hector Pieterson (12 year old) after being shot by police. In June 16, 1976 Soweto students gathered to protest against the forced use of Afrikaans in black schools as a medium of communication.	Sam Nzima who took the world famous photograph during opening of museum Hector Pieterson Museum, officially opened on 16 June, 2002