ARSON AT A HERITAGE SITE
If you want to visit Soweto and take historic drives, it makes a lot of sense to stay at the Soweto Hotel. But do yourself a favour: don’t eat there
You know those bleak moments when you get so hungry you vow you can “eat anything right now”? Well, I had one last
Saturday at the Abantu Book Festival in Soweto. When I got back to the Soweto Hotel, where I was staying, I ordered a T-bone steak with vegetables in a desperate and quick attempt to still my hunger pangs.
Imagine my disappointment, which immediately metamorphosed into anger, when they delivered what looked like a piece of burnt wood. What made me angrier was that I’d ordered my steak medium-rare.
Shouting at the waiter didn’t help; with a huge smile he offered to take it back, but said a fresh attempt would take “maybe another 20 minutes”.
I decided to grapple with the piece of burnt wood in front of me. After two bites I simply couldn’t continue. So I wolfed down the vegetables instead. And asked for another helping of those.
It was one of the most unpleasant dining experiences I have had in a long time.
Starting on my second glass of merlot, I remembered that the previous evening I had had a very so-so chicken breast at the same hotel. It occurred to me that they must have useless kitchen staff. If you can’t get a simple T-bone steak right, you have a huge problem as a hotel.
This is a great pity because the Soweto Hotel is actually a remarkable place. It is in Kliptown, at the historic site where the Congress of the People was held in 1955, an occasion that gave birth to the Freedom Charter, one of the documents that inform our country’s constitution.
To find it can be tricky because it does not look like a hotel at all. Freedom Square, where it is located, is a heritage site, so the owners of the hotel could not interfere with the original architecture. As a result, the structure it is part of looks like an old warehouse. Many have complained that the signage is not visible enough and that it is easy to drive past the place.
But when you get into the hotel area itself, it is quite remarkable. The reception area is festooned with historic pictures of Nelson Mandela and Walter and Albertina Sisulu. The theme is continued in the corridors, where pictures capturing different moments of our history are displayed.
The conference centre is also decorated with historic pictures, as are the rooms. Each room is furnished with a book that tells the story of Freedom Square, also generously endowed with historic pictures.
All the pictures were taken by the legendary Alf Kumalo, who worked for a number of SA newspapers and was a friend of the Mandelas.
As a result, there are many pictures of the Mandelas at various stages of their lives — as a young couple; Winnie Mandela standing at her gate looking broodingly into the distance; or at her house in Brandfort which she was banished to for many years.
If you want to visit Soweto and take leisurely historic drives, it makes a lot of sense to stay at the Soweto Hotel. But do yourself a favour: don’t eat there. Rather try the restaurants in Vilakazi Street in Orlando West. There you have a choice of local cuisine, including tripe, chicken feet, steamed bread and samp and beans. Or you can play it safe and settle for international fare.
Soweto Hotel ★
1808 Union Avenue, Kliptown, Soweto Tel: 011-527-7300
★★★★★ Kimi Makwetu
★★★★ Raymond Zondo
★★★ Cyril Ramaphosa
★★ Malusi Gigaba
★ Steinhoff