TOURISTS IN SOWETO: INTERVIEWS: Rob Hicks and Max Police Car Compound Migrant Labours Compound Millionaires road Welcome Mandela Squatter Camp
Record ID:
893637
TOURISTS IN SOWETO: INTERVIEWS: Rob Hicks and Max Police Car Compound Migrant Labours Compound Millionaires road Welcome Mandela Squatter Camp
- Title: TOURISTS IN SOWETO: INTERVIEWS: Rob Hicks and Max Police Car Compound Migrant Labours Compound Millionaires road Welcome Mandela Squatter Camp
- Date: 19th October 1996
- Summary: TOURISTS IN SOWETO: INTERVIEWS: Rob Hicks and Max Police Car Compound Migrant Labours Compound Millionaires road Welcome Mandela Squatter Camp
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- City: SOWETO
- Country: South Africa
- Reuters ID: 96OCT19R01
- Story Text:TOURIST IN SOWETO:
ROB HICKS AND MAX LENTSWANI - OF MAX TOURS
09.20.41 (Rob) I was a traveller here back in '93 and I was fortunate enough to go to Soweto with a relative of Max, I never went there on a tour.And I thought the places that I got to see and visit, I thought this would make a very good tour. And at that time there wasn't really a company offering that type of tour, and I approached Max and I said "would you be interested intaking people, budget travellers into Soweto"and Max said "yes, I'll give it a go" and it started very informally from there. It's increased and gone from strenght to strength.
09.21.39 Q. What market are you aiming at, what people do you hope to get on your tour?
09.21.41 Well, we started with the budget traveller, the people that stay in this type of establishment and that's been the basis of our business. It has progressed to hotel people and visiting groups, but we run an adventurous type tour and I think that certainly the budget traveller has been our strenght and that's where it'll lie.
09.22.15 Q. What sort of people on the tour, is it all foreigners, or are their locals too.
09.22.19 (Max) Recently, at the beginning of this year, I started having South Africans on this tour and it's been very interestling for them.
09.22.28 Q. What's been the typical reaction from a South African going in to the township?
09.22.30 There's always been this expectation of Soweto you know, the past. And when they get there they say "there's nothing wrong with Soweto, we've missedit for so many years. And there's strange stories we heard about Soweto in the past. Something different.
09.22.52 Q. And the foreigners who come out on the tours, do they have a similar reaction?
09.22.56 The foreigners, most of them have heard a lot about Soweto, especially the time in 1976 when lots of things happened and I think they have heard the history from that time. Newspapers, media everything.
09.23.13 Q What sort of people do you visit on the tour, what do they think about...how do they feel?
09.23.30 Our tours are basically more closer to the people rather than make the tourists feel like real tourists. We try to take tourists into the local community take them to the people, talk to them, ask questions. We try tomake them feel like visitors rather than real tourists, sitting in a bus, taking pictures. We take them out to take a walk around, meet the people. Especially, in the shebeens where you get the locals sitting having beer - we try to take them there. It's more into contact with the people rather than just a tour.
09.24.10 Q From the Soweto residents side of things. Do they enjoy opening the shebeens up to totally different people.
09.24.18 Yes. you'll have your own experience today when you get into a shebeen . The people welcome especially when they see tourists,white people,they sort of wave hands. It's a sign of welcome from the little ones on the streets start waving hands, for you, its just to wave up a hand and say hi. We've never had any problem. We've got a track record, we've never had any problem. They've been running smoothly.
09.24.51 Q How did you decide where you would go.
09.25.02 (Rob) Well I said to Max, can we go here, here, here and here. And Max said yes, we can do that, we can't do some of this. What I wanted and what we came together in the middle. I think we take some people to some places that other tours they wouldn't get to see.
09.25.29 Q What sort of places?
09.25.29 The cemetery. Avalon cemetery. There's a lot of history attached to that. Not usually thought of to go and visit. But, it's one oof those places that you take the people and they'll, it's quite an eye opener. Not the normal sort of thing you would expect to go and look at.
09.25.59 (Max) The other thing, there's alot of landmarks that other tour places don't really take people to those places. They are very important landmarks. The typical soweto house is a landmark. You have to go inside and have an idea what's happening inside. Whereas not many tour operators take their tours inside the house, inside their private houses. But we try to. You see a lot of houses in Soweto and we take people there to have a look at the situation inside. The rooms and all that. How everythings been set up. And also the squatter camps. We try to take people right into the squatter camp, right into the shack, so that people have an idea of what's happening inside. There's no point driving along and seeing a little shack on the side of the road and you don't know how many rooms, where do the people sleep - on the floor, on the ground. We take peop[le there to have a look and have ideas... (cellphone)
09.27.26 You have more feeling of how the past and the present related together.
0-9.27.42 Q Do you go to the same houses everytime?
09.27.45 No, because the same houses, you won't get those people everyday. They've got their own committments. Saturday people go to the funerals, go to whatever. There's you know, on Saturdays, Sunday, most of the people are at home, but they've got other commitments too. So if there's nobody in the other house, we go to, switch to the other house. There's no problem, you'll always be welcomed.
09.28.12 One other thing - alot of people will always be asking. Can we take pictures. It's a memory, can you send it to us. Some tourists did, but people keep on stopping me all the time, saying Max, where are our pictures, did they send our pictures? No, not yet. Still has to be developed. It's more into communal living.
09.28.39 Do you still live in Soweto - Yes, Pimville. As long as I'm in this business I think I'll still live there. But I was born in Dieplkloof the first township we go into, and my relatives parents still there.
09.29.04 Q Is there space for more of this kind of tourism in Soweto, or has it reached its' limit.
09.29.10 (Rob) I think now it's probably reached its limit. We've seen other budding entrepreneurs starts up the same sort of thing, but South Africa is yet tor really feel the tourism boom and I'm sure there's enough business for Max and others, and I think as long as the tours remain of quality then there's room for everybody.
09.29.40 But on a broader note, there's a big thing in this country of economic empowerment and this is an example of black economic empowerment. Where white and black have shared ideas and worked together and have produced a very good product and a good business that is going to go from strenght tos strength. It's a good example to other entrepreneurs and people from the townships out there. And, we're very proud of it.
09.30.11 (Max) To add on that. I started, myself, and today we're looking at - we've introduced Linda into the tours, Gift is another guy working with us. And in the office - we have just set up a office. We've got Rinky working as our secretary, we we're looking at expand, develop. We hope we'll keep the same standard. Maybe improve, the better tours of Soweto.
09.31.12 Cut away of Julia, Bob and Max.
09.33.56 Tourists walking towards the bus fromthe youth hostel in Yeoville.
09.38.19 Getting into the combi. Linda standing on the outside.
09.38.49 Tourist pulling the combi door closed.
09.39.36 My name is Linda from Max Maximum
tours, so I'll be taking you to Soweto. In case you don't hear something, please tell me to stop. So in Soweto you are free to take pictures, jumping out of this van having a picture of people moving up and down the Streets of Soweto. It's not a
problem, taking someones house, a photo, it's not a problem. You are free to take pictures. So the area we are in, it's known as Yeoville
EXT COMBI DRIVING DOWN YEOVILLE ROAD, AND TURNING ROUND CORNER
00.17.25 So presently we are speaking of 5 million people livining in Soweto, since we've got a high influx of illegal immigrants coming in to the city. So we don't report the illegal immigrants to the police we keep them in our back yards and make money out of them.
INT LINDA TALKING
00.17.38 So where we are now, this is a police car compound. As I said we've got a total population of 4.5 million, so 30 percent of that 4.5 million itsn ot employed. We've got...
00.17.55 Therefore people don't have skills to survive, in order to survive, what we do, we resort to crime. Therefore crime it's rife in soweto. One of the prominent crimes in Soweto, its car hijacking
CAR'S LINED UP
00.18.30 All the cars what you see inside here, these are the stolen and the suspected stolen vehicles that you see inside. So what you see on the other side, those have been positively identified as stolen vehicles. So this is our laboratory, the guys that you see over here, these are the specialists, these are the guys who check whether...
00.18.57 They don't phone you at honme, they keep it here for about six months. It's your responsiblity as a car owner to go around these car compounds that we have and find your car. So if the car, if six months elapse and your car its not claimed, they sell it for auctions, and the government takes the money. So all what you see inside here, these are the stolen and the suspected stolen vehicles.
00.19.24 So some of the cars are stripped, parts are sold. ..
00.19.42 These cars are going to be sold for auction, that's why these cars have got numbers on the windows. So these cars are going to be sold for auction. The government will take the money.
00.19.52 So all what you see inside here, these are the stolen and the suspected stolen vehicles.
00.20.22 On the far left this is the second largest hospital in the world, its known as Baragwanath hospital. This hospital can cover an area of up to 173 000 sq metres. It can take more than 4 000 patients one time. The cement building...
00.20.51 So you find that most of the student doctors from all ovcer the world, that's where they come....
00.21.16 Any questions so far
00.21.18 When was this suburb built?
00.21.21 This one was built in 1956. This is known as Diepkloof, this is a middle class area as well as the area for thepoor. Over here we sell mielie meal, juice, its made out of corn, its a juice made out of corn.
INT COMBI TURNING CORNER TO MIGRANT HOSTELS
TO MANDELA SQUATTER CAMP (CONTD)
00.39. 52 GREETING
WASHING ON THE LINE, PAST GREEN TOILETS, ROUGH NUMBERS PAINTED ON HOUSE, RUSTY SHACKS
00.40.28 So we'll jump out.
PARKING CAR. JULIA AND OTHERS GET OUT.
00.41.05 Linda asking so you'll come with me.
STANDING AT ENTRANCE TO SHACK, PAX WALK IN.
KIDS ON STREET
LOUD MUSIC
DIRTY GUTTERS
WALKING SHOT THROUGH GATE INTO SHACK.
PAX WALK INTO SHACK
00.41.52 Why don't you greet us people, just pass, we like to be greeted, we say hello, sanibona.
00.42.11 She's not employed. This used to be just an open land,there was nothing here.. so people wanted to show the government that they really needed house... so this was one of the open lands ...
00.42.40 Tehse are the aparatus that are used in a kitchen. This is a coal stove. This is used during unfavourable conditions when its too cold. You can ilmagine staying ina house made out corrugated iron. When it's hot it becomes worse as its warming up right now, When its cold ....
ROOF PACKED WITH NEWSPAPERS TO KEEP COLD OUT.
00.43.18 This is what we use to collect water from the communal tap. As I said we don't have, so we go to teh communal taps about 4 or 5 metres away to collect
PAX WATCHING INTENTLY
00.43.31 Over here this is the main bedroom. If you look at the building material.. old corfrugated iron, ...
sometimes we vandalise bus terminals, train stations and we come and
KID PEERING IN DOOR
So this is the mother of the house..
00.44.14 How long have you lived here.
00.44.16 I stay here with my three children. But they're not here the two of them, I've got one son with me...
00.44.29 I'm not working since 93. If you can ask me how do I live, I can say, I don't know. Thas all, that's all my answer, I don't know. no husband, nothing.
00.44.45you just live day to day
00.44.47 Yes, day to day I don't know. Laughs
IVY TURNS TO PAX TO LISTEN TO HIS QUESTION
00.46.04 Because of the apartheid I can say so, I was fired because maybe one madam doesn't like me to talk. Just getting cross, getting cross
SHOT FROM OUTSIDE HOUSE, IVY IN CORNER EXPLAINING TO PAX
00.46.20 One day this old lady, she was Portugues, she was responsiblefor me to tell her, this is finished, I need this for the shop. When I talk to her one day she look at me. I'm not fighting, please listen. The world of listen, she told me, you'll never, never tell me that world again, only to say listen. Because I want her to listen to me then she'll hear what I'm saying. Then I leave her and go to my job. Just to say listen, she was getting cross. And my boss fired me because I'm not good.
GROUP LISTENING AND NODDING
00476.22 PARAFIN LAMP AND POTS IN BACKGROUND
POTS AND FLY BUZZING AROUND
GROCERIES, OXTAIL
00.48.35 KIDS PEERING IN DOOR (PIX FROM OUTSIDE)
00.,49.47 KIDS OUTSIDE SHACK, MUSIC PLAYING
LINDA WALKING PAST SHACK
00.50.47 KIDS WALKING DOWN STREET.
KID WALKING TOWARDS CAMERA
51.26 PEOLE WALKING OUT OF SHACK AFTER VISIT
51.44 PAX WALKING PAST TO TAKE PHOTO
00.51.57 OLD BLUE BAKKIE DRIVING PAST, DRIVER GREETS LINDA
00.52.25 PAX LOOKING FOR CHANGE FOR KIDS. LINDA COMES BY AND SAYS NO, DON'T DO THAT. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS