THE CHIEL

A night
in Soweto

SOWETO was never up there on the must-see-places-before-I-die list. I was inquisitive, sure, but not that curious.

The other day it happened quite by accident. Well, from me and my motoring journalist colleagues’ perspective it wasn’t planned. We were driving around in Gauteng in the latest edition of the Land Rover Defender and heading back to our hotel via a mystery dinner stopover route.

Our hosts wouldn’t tell us where. Probably wise because the sun was setting and we were an hour behind schedule. From Krugersdorp we drove south in convoy, or maybe east? Dunno!

My driving partner was motorsport commentator Roger McLeery who lives in those parts but didn’t have a clue where we were. We all had two-way radios and when it dawned we were in the heart of Soweto – IN THE DARK! – voices rose an octave or two.

That included a black colleague. “Man, I left this place cos it was so dangerous. What am I doing back here now?” he whimpered. It wasn’t reassuring. But there was no going back.

We turned off into a dark side street and came face to face with a roadblock. Shady characters approached our car. “Passports!” the largest demanded gruffly at our window. Fortunately it was a joke. We were in a suburb named Lusaka and Fats, as he was called, would be our escort from there.

Fats knew the game. Fats opened doors and we’d do anything Fats told us. We followed his bakkie. When we came to intersections where traffic blocked our path, Fats stopped, parked in front of the oncoming lane, hopped out and directed us through.

Simple. And not a word of protest either. It’s the “VIP” way in Soweto.

Talking about traffic ... you think taxi drivers are bad. We know they are, don’t we. Not in Soweto they aren’t. They’re like lambs. They pull OFF the road, they let you through at intersections. They even INDICATE and are polite. We couldn’t believe it.

Then it dawned. Taxi drivers ARE Soweto and they probably come off second best if they step out of line, so they toe it.

And Sowetans go about their business like in any other suburb. In fact they look more secure and serene, even at night, than we feel in so-called white suburbs. Street lighting is brilliant. Roads are tarred. No potholes. There was a lovely buzz about the place.

We drove slowly past the Hector Petersen Memorial, Mandela’s house and the Regina Mundi Church, and all of a sudden we were in a derelict unlit section. “This must be where the skelms hang out,” Roger and I thought in unison. We carried on, across a dump, over a river, and suddenly we were face to face with an oasis of tents on beach sand, food, drink and merriment, entertained by Sowetan bands and dancers with Fats leading the party late into the night.

It was fun and Soweto will never be the same again.

Chiel: 043 702 2242 or chiel@dispatch.co.za

Tailpiece

A WOMAN says to her husband, “Why don’t you play tennis with Jim any more?”

“Hah,” he snorted, “would you play tennis with someone who screams and smashes his racquet on the ground, lies about line calls and cheats all the time?”

“No, of course I wouldn’t.” – “Well neither will Jim.”

FROM OUR FILES

OCTOBER 15, 1957: The East London City Council’s Transport Committee has heeded protests against the proposals to charge 6d for a half hour when parking meters are installed in Oxford Street. The committee has decided to recommend to the Council that the charges be 3d a half hour and 6d an hour.

OCTOBER 15, 1977: The Old Groaner is dead. Madrid – Crooner Bing Crosby, the legendary “Old Groaner” who changed the whole style of popular singing, died of a heart attack yesterday while playing golf. Crosby, 73, collapsed at the 17th hole yesterday afternoon at La Moraleja Club, outside Madrid. Bing Crosby – born Harry Lillis Crosby on May 2, 1904, in Tacoma, Washington state – swept to fame in the 1930s as a singer with a relaxed, easy style. As an actor he appeared in more than 50 films and won a Hollywood Oscar for Going My Way in which he played a Catholic priest.

’Growth and self-transformation cannot be delegated’ — Lewis Munford

TIMELINE

Today is Monday, October 15, the 288th day of 2007. There are 77 days left in the year.

Today’s Birthdays: Virgil, Roman poet (70 B.C.-19 B.C.); Evangelista Torricelli, Italian inventor of barometer (1608-1647); Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, German philosopher (1844-1900); P(elham) G(renville) Wodehouse, British-American writer (1881-1975), Richard Carpenter, US singer/drummer (1946-).

This day in history:

1986 — Sebe seeks International Court of Justice to mediate in the Kei dispute

1989 — Walter Sisulu is released from prison

1993 — Polish immigrant and supporter of the neo-nazi Afrikaner Weerstandbeweging (AWB), Janusz Waluz, and Conservative Party politician Clive Derby-Lewis, are sentenced to death for the cold-blooded and cowardly slaying of the South African Communist Party (SACP) chairman, Chris Hani

Sunrise: 05:28 Sunset: 18:20

(Source: www.weathersa.co.za)