Johannesburg

Johannesburg, Jo’burg, Jozi.  All are local ways to refer to the largest city in South Africa.  Unlike most cities that developed into a metropolis, Jo’burg is not located on a river, waterway or deep water port for future economic benefit and trade.  The only reason it was settled, and developed, was because of the nearby discovery of gold and diamonds.  And those elements and crystals exist because of Gondwanaland.

To refresh your high school science, after the earth formed (see previous post) and cooled below 212 degrees F (100 C) water vapor in the super heated atmosphere began to condense out and fall as torrential rains.  The violent molten core continued to belch more water vapor through volcanos and cracks in the earth, which cooled and precipitated out as well.  Gradually, over millions of years this liquid water flooded the earth’s surface, and above this nascent sea rose a single land mass now called Pangaea.  

This primordial continent was like a broken cracker floating on simmering pea soup. They moved around on the molten subsurface, coalesced, and separated.  The first permanent separation was into two super continents, Laurentia (today’s North America, Europe and Asia) and Gondwanaland (today’s South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica).  Eventually the two super continents broke further apart with Antarctica drifting south to the pole, Australia northeast, India drifted way north slamming into Asia to uplift the Himalayas; North America and Europe were pushed apart by the spreading Atlantic rift, which also forced South America and Africa apart.  

In the molten subsurface heavy metals and minerals sank toward the core where they were compressed by the weight above them.  Deep rocks were metamorphosed by the weight and heat into new forms like granite into gneiss, limestone into marble, or mudstone into slate.  As the surface mantel cooled, and volcanic activity separated Gondwanaland, vertical and horizontal cracks developed.  The deep core metals and minerals found relief from the intense pressure above and squeezed toward the surface through these cracks.  Minerals that reached the surface were usually in a vertical crack (dike) or pipe - widening at the surface and narrowing into the core.  Below the surface, horizontal cracks (sills) created seams of heavy metals like gold, copper, and coal.  The pipe at Kimberly, our excursion from the train, contains concentrations of compressed carbon from down deep, otherwise known as diamonds; the source of Rhodes’ wealth.   Miners originally excavated a “Big Hole” to get at the easy diamonds, but later dug vertical shafts and then laterally to access the deeper diamonds in the pipe.  Horizontal seams of gold nearby also contributed to Jo’burg’s development.  I will address other implications of the break up of Gondwanaland when we are in Namibia as it is the reason for the oldest desert on earth.

After the Cradle of Humankind tour we arrived in the trendy neighborhood of Rosebank, north of Jo’burg’s central district.  Our friends who were here only a few days before recommended a French restaurant about a 10 minute drive from our hotel.  It was wonderful to get a break from the S.A. prepared game meats and seafood we’d been eating.  And, after two weeks of a hacking cough and feeling quite punky, I was finally in the mood to share a bottle of French wine.  

We only had one day in Jo’burg as our priority was the safaris to follow.  Our Africaan guide Mr. Gert picked us up in the morning and gave a whirlwind tour of Jo’burg’s sites.  However, I will describe only three:  SOWETO, the Central core of Jo’burg, and the Apartheid Museum.  

SOWETO stands for SOuthWEst TOwnships.  Note that townships is plural.  Before coming to S.A. our knowledge of SOWETO was only that it was a black township (singular), very poor, and a center of Apartheid resistance as many of the freedom fighters lived here including Madiba and Winnie.  Mandela’s white school name was Nelson, but his childhood name was Madiba.  

SOWETO is a collection of many townships southwest of Jo’burg.  Townships started as government mandated communities for blacks and coloreds because laws did not allow the races to live together.  After the end of Apartheid the townships continue to be defined by race.  While some blacks and coloreds moved into middle income and could afford to live in white communities they chose to stay in the townships.  There is a phenomenon of white flight when they move into white neighborhoods, but the primary reason is cultural identification.  It’s only 25 years since the end of Apartheid.  To adapt to the economic mobility of some blacks many townships are casually subdivided economically within their boundaries.  IE, in SOWETO there are shanty towns; squatter shacks built of cardboard, plywood and tin for the immigrants and very poor; government supported low income apartment blocks; small single family homes (rented and privately owned); and large elegant homes. The diverse communities can be directly adjacent to each other.  The townships have schools, shopping areas, and even a golf course near the upper income homes.  

Tin roofs of shanty town in SOWETO 

Speaks for itself 

The commercial areas included centers with a “Walmart or Carrefour” type stores in upscale districts of a township; or locally owned/operated open air shops, and services like haircuts or car repair on the street, in poverty areas.  Depending on which kind of district in a township we drove through we would get out and look around, or were advised to lock our doors and roll up the window in other areas.  When we got out at a museum/ memorial to a young boy killed during one of the Apartheid protests our driver paid a local man to “look after” our car.  In Chicago we called it protection money.

Photo at memorial of young boy shot at protests.

Our drive through central downtown Jo’burg was depressing. It was Sunday morning, and several “churches” around the downtown core were having service in the open.  Black women and children were dressed in their finery sitting on folding chairs on the sidewalks, streets and intersections, while the clergy delivered their homilies over loud speakers.   

Parishioners on street corner 

During Apartheid and through Mandela’s time as president, the city had a vibrant urban core with street level retail, high-rise offices and hotels. The buildings are now abandoned with businesses relocating to “safer” neighborhoods like Rosebank.  Even though the streets were full of people, with no businesses people were just milling about.  At first I felt like a weenie because we did not get out and walk to talk to people.  Later we met a young couple from the US that naively took the subway downtown, got to the surface and immediately returned. The towers with their broken windows have been left for squatters immigrants.   

Empty downtown building with Broken Windows and squatters. 

S.A. is also struggling with their own version of immigration issues.  S.A. has the strongest economy in Africa, and with the corruption and complete collapse of economies in neighboring countries like Zimbabwe, Congo, and Nigeria, those residents are fleeing to the cities in S.A like Jo’burg and Capetown.   After being initially depressed because of S.A’s history and doubting whether this city can ever recover, I recalled downtown Detroit, which is today having a bit of a renaissance; and the violence and bankruptcy of New York in the 70s, which has come back.  What S.A. needs is good governance and leadership; and less corruption.

Our final, and longest stop, was at the relatively new Apartheid Museum.  They have a permanent exhibit on Nelson Mandela which was inspiring.  We both so greatly admire him for his commitment, integrity, and inclusiveness to create a new South Africa.  He truly belongs in the ranks of Gandhi, Dr. King, and A. Lincoln.  A remarkable soul who grew stronger and wiser through his struggles, instead of a more human response to become angry and bitter.  I strongly recommend his autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom”.  There was so much to learn about Apartheid that even after three hours we had to rush the last third of the exhibits because there was more content.  If you ever get to this country, even if primarily for the safaris, do not miss at least a half day at this museum.  I’ll leave the rest for you to discover both the inhumanity and the spirit.  

FINALLY! Tomorrow we fly to Hoedspruit, at the edge of many private reserves west of Kruger National Park, for our first safari.  Thanks for sticking with this.