Afrika in Focus: Tourism in Afrika - Unveiling Johannesburg - A Megacity's Cultural and Modern Transformation

We continue our series looking at tourism in Afrika where we take you on a captivating journey through Johannesburg, a dynamic megacity in South Africa. Known for its rich history rooted in the gold rush, Johannesburg has evolved into a vibrant hub that melds cultural heritage with modern innovation. As a city that is both a financial powerhouse and a melting pot of cultures, Johannesburg offers an array of experiences that promise to captivate any traveler.

The podcast begins with an exploration of Johannesburg's historical and economic significance. As one of Africa's megacities, Johannesburg is a testament to the continent's growth and resilience. Its foundation on the riches of the gold rush era is reflected in its modern skyline, home to many major South African and international companies. I  highlight Johannesburg's role as a business center, while also celebrating its cosmopolitan atmosphere and diverse population. 
We delve into Johannesburg's cultural and historical attractions.

The city is home to iconic landmarks and world-class infrastructure, much of which was developed for the 2010 World Cup. We emphasize Johannesburg's artistic and historical richness. From the Apartheid Museum to the Cradle of Civilization Museum, these sites provide a poignant insight into South Africa's past and the evolution of humankind. The city's art scene is also spotlighted, with a visit to the Johannesburg Art Gallery offering a glimpse into its creative spirit.

Johannesburg has an array of international cuisines and traditional South African dishes like Biltong.  The podcast also explores Johannesburg's vibrant nightlife, one of the best in Afrika.

For wildlife enthusiasts, the episode offers recommendations for exploring the natural beauty surrounding Johannesburg. The nearby lion and safari park is a must-visit, providing thrilling encounters with nature.

I reflect on the stark contrasts within Johannesburg, from the affluent suburbs like Sandton to the historic township of Soweto. This exploration of socioeconomic disparities provides a deeper understanding of the city's complexities. I invite listeners to witness first-hand the legacy of apartheid and the ongoing challenges faced by South Africa. Through thoughtful commentary, I provide insights into Johannesburg's social dynamics, encouraging a nuanced appreciation of its history and progress.

Sources:
What It's REALLY Like Visiting JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

Top 10 Things to do in Johannesburg 2024 | South Africa Travel Guide

Chapters

• 0:05 Exploring Johannesburg
• 13:39 Exploring Johannesburg's Culture and Infrastructure

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Good evening and welcome to this edition of Africa in Focus with myself, kwame, ghanaian broadcaster, writer, journalist, podcaster and entrepreneur. And in this week's edition of Africa in Focus, we're still looking about tourism in Africa as it approaches the festive season, so we're looking about tourism in Africa. This week we're looking about Johannesburg, the mega city in South Africa. So the city that we're looking at today Johannesburg in South Africa. So, before we get to the podcast, just to make you aware that if you like what you hear, please share to your friends, family, social media networks. Please subscribe to Ghana, africa and Folks on YouTube. You can subscribe to that as well, and also subscribe to the podcast also on Spotify. Just look out for Ghana, africa and Folks on Spotify podcast. Click follow button, meaning that every time I upload a new episode, spotify will notify you of that, all right. So please subscribe to both YouTube and also Spotify. It costs nothing, it's for free. So please, if you haven't already subscribed, please subscribe to the Ghana African Focus Podcast, all right. So let's get into the podcast today, looking about Johannesburg, the African mega city. So Johannesburg is the business financial center of South Africa and it's one of Africa's mega cities, along with cities like Lagos, cairo, abidjan, lagos, cairo, abidjan, nairobi, luanda, etc. And so Johannesburg is in the Transvaal area of what is called South Africa and it is a very, very cosmopolitan city as well. And so Johannesburg is definitely a must put on your bucket list if you are planning to visit the content this festive season. So I can mention we want to promote African tourism, because African tourism is a very is the world's best kept secret and you don't really hear, you know, in your tour guides, in your tour brochures, a lot about African countries, and so we want to dispel the myth that there's nothing to do or see in Africa by exposing these African megacities. So last week was Accra, the week before that it was Nairobi and this week is Johannesburg, often called Joburg.

Speaker 1: 2:38

I didn't know that Johannesburg is founded upon gold. The second, the world's second biggest gold mine is in Kimberley. Kimberley is just outside Johannesburg, and in the 1700s there was a massive gold rush in Johannesburg and many Europeans were attracted to the Johannesburg area because of the discovery of gold, the Johannesburg area because of the discovery of gold. And so Johannesburg itself is actually built on the huge prophecy receipts that South Africa made from gold, and you've got things like the gold coin in South Africa. You've got things like the Krugerrand, etc. And even, you know, the, the crown jewels that the British royal family wears, is actually made partly from South African diamonds and gold.

Speaker 1: 3:33

Yeah, so that tells you that South Africa, you know, apart from being a sorry, sorry Johannesburg, apart from being a beautiful city, it's also a very, very minimally wealthy city as well. So, as I mentioned, you know, johannesburg is the business, you know, hub of South Africa and there's many, many big companies that actually, you know, have their headquarters based in South Africa. Yeah, and, like I said, south Africa is one of Africa's mega cities, so it's a population of about just under 5 million, and it's situated, like I said, in the Guateng province of South Africa and it's the provincial capital of Guateng, which, by the way, is the world's first province in South Africa. And Johannesburg is also the seat of the Constitutional Court, which is the highest court in South Africa. Yeah, so, as I mentioned, most of the major South African companies and banks, like Castle Brewery, like FMD Bank, like Asbert, formula, barclays Bank, a lot of them, big, big South African companies, as well as major global companies, have their HQ in Johannesburg, and so, you know, that alone makes Johannesburg a city worth going to. In actual fact, johannesburg can compete easily with top European cities like London, paris, amsterdam, rome, berlin, brussels, etc.

Speaker 1: 5:17

Johannesburg is a very, very beautiful city. In actual fact, there's a lot to see and do in Johannesburg, which we'll talk about as this podcast moves on, but Johannesburg is definitely somewhere I would recommend that you go to on your trip to an African country. Now Johannesburg, you know, is, like I say, a very, very cosmopolitan city, and if you look at the sort of racial mix of the city, 75% is African population, 12% is white or European, 5.6% is coloured, which is mixed race in South Africa Population, indian and Asians make about 4.9% of the population of Johannesburg and then go over people 1%, and so you know Johannesburg is a very, very cosmopolitan city, with different cultures and different peoples represented in this city. Now, johannesburg is great for nightlife and if you love your nightlife, then Johannesburg is definitely definitely the place to go. Johannesburg is in the top five of African cities that have great nightlife, so you definitely want to check out some nightclubs, particularly in the downtown area of Johannesburg, when you visit that country. Well, that's it to you either. Also, johannesburg has got some great, great cuisine, again, like Nairobi and like other many major African mega cities, you know it's a culinary delight. So, if you like your food, there's a massive array of international cuisine, like, I say, chinese, indian, lebanese, you know, european restaurants, middle Eastern restaurants in Johannesburg, as well as traditional South African restaurants which sell things like the world's famous Biltong. So if you want to sample uh, local South African cuisine like Biltong, then you don't want to miss those fantastic, you know trendy restaurants in Johannesburg.

Speaker 1: 7:30

Now again, you know Johannesburg is also a very historic city because just outside Johannesburg is the township of Soweto. The township was created by, obviously, by the apartheid era government that created these townships to, you know, to house the African population. So during the apartheid era, many, many, many Africans were not allowed to go to downtown Johannesburg, actually Johannesburg itself, because you know that was the system of apartheid, which means, uh, separate in the Dutch language. And so these settlements like Soweto were created for the African population. And so Soweto is a very, very historic city within Johannesburg, or a suburb within Johannesburg, because that's where the Soweto uprising took place in 1970s I think in 1976 to be precise or 77. And that's when African school children refused to be taught in the Afrikaans, which is the Dutch language of the Dutch so-called Boer community, and African people said that they want to be taught in the African languages, but the apartheid regime at the time wanted to impose the Afrikaans language on them and many African students, you know, resisted that and that's what led to the Soweto uprising in 1976.

Speaker 1: 8:58

So many of the ANC stores of the past lived in Soweto, so people like Walter Susulu and Ivo Tambo, who are the founders of the African National Congress, anc, lived there. And there's people like Nelson Mandela, and I believe that Nelson Mandela's former house in Soweto is still there. So, again, I think, since he passed away 2013, I think his house in Johannesburg, or Soweto rather, has become some kind of tourist guide. So, you know, even though they say Johannesburg is sorry, soweto is a township and it's rough. I will strongly recommend that you visit, with a very good tour guide, the suburb of Soweto because, like I said, that suburb or township has played a key role in the anti-partis struggle and is a key township within the whole story of South Africa and within the whole story of Johannesburg, and so you definitely want to book a trip to Soweto Township and see for yourself. You know the legacy of apartheid and also how people live in that part of Johannesburg.

Speaker 1: 10:19

Now, on that, you know, on the flip side of that, so you've got, you know, a suburb like, or a settlement or a township like Soweto, which in part still has worth a bit, but it's plagued by a lot of poverty, etc. On the sub side of that, you know Johannesburg has some of the richest real estate in Africa. Yeah, we're talking about places like Stanton, merwas, arch, ramberg. Oh my god, now if you've never been to Johannesburg, right, you definitely need to go to these places. I've mentioned Stanton, randberg and Mairos Arch. These are places that can compete easily with Manhattan in New York, can compete with Los Angeles in California, can compete with London in England, can compete with Paris in France.

Speaker 1: 11:15

You know these suburbs I've just mentioned are top, top notch in the suburbs of Johannesburg that are home to some of the richest people, not just in Africa but the world. Yeah, and so these places also have very, very high end shops. You know high-end restaurants and also high-end accommodation in terms of B&B and hotels, airbnb and hotels, and so I would definitely recommend that you you go to Stanton, ramberg and Mellor's Arch to see where you know the rich people live in South Africa or Johannesburg rather, and that will see the contrast which apartheid created of somewhere like Stanton and then somewhere like Soweto. And that's not far. It's about five miles apart, so between Soweto and Stanton, probably at most 10 miles apart, but it has massive contrast in terms of wealth, in terms of, you know, the inequality that is still evident in South Africa in the 30 years after so-called apartheid ended, which, for me, like I said before, apartheid never died and you know, when you go to Johannesburg particularly, you will witness for yourself the massive inequalities between African people and European people. And Johannesburg, you know, is a city that actually, you know, strikes those massive inequalities between Africans and Europeans. So, like I said, stanton, ramberg, melbourne's Arch, are definitely an example of that obvious wealth, the opulence that is enjoyed by many Europeans who live in Johannesburg. And, like I said, there's a lot of high-end also, shopping malls, shopping malls in Ramberg and you know Stanton in particular, oh my gosh, they beat anything in Europe and even North America. You know Stanton, some of the shopping malls in Stanton particularly, oh my God. So definitely, definitely, you want to check out, you know those, you know that part of the city.

Speaker 1: 13:39

Again, just outside of Johannesburg, there's a lion and safari park. You know where you can do a lot of things. In particular, you can go quad biking, you can go mountain biking and also look at an array of animals, but particularly lions and their cubs that are in that lion and safari park outside Johannesburg. So again, I definitely recommend that if you're into wildlife, then South Africa is famous for that. But in terms of Johannesburg, I definitely recommend you go into the lion and safari park sanctuary.

Speaker 1: 14:22

Again, when we look at the history of Johannesburg century, again, when we look at the history of Johannesburg, there's also museums that I recommend you go to that highlight the history of Johannesburg and even Africa as a whole. So the first museum that I recommend that you visit is the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. So obviously this is like a history of the system of apartheid that ran in South Africa for more than 300 years, which was legally ended in 1994, but it's still there in many, many forms, particularly economic and social, political. But that museum gives you a stark reminder of how that system was initiated and some of the damaging effects of apartheid, particularly to the African population of Johannesburg and South Africa. So I definitely recommend that you visit the Apartheid Museum on your trip to Johannesburg, apartheid Museum on your trip to Johannesburg, again, you know you can also visit the Cradle of Music sorry, the Cradle of Civilization Museum in Johannesburg. Now, that's going to be open for many of you because a lot of people, right, think that African, or civilization began, you know, in the Great Lakes area, you know where Diyal Congress did, you know the Great Lakes area, but civilization, human civilization, began in Southern Africa. So not necessarily South Africa itself, but we're talking about Southern Africa. You know where you find people like the Sankoi, so-called Bushmen and those indigenous groups living in today's Southern Africa. And so when you go to this cradle of civilization museum in Johannesburg, you will see even fossils, remains of human fossils that date millions and millions and millions of years ago. So that is definitely, you know, somewhere that I'd recommend because it's eye-opening and you learn a lot about the history of humankind and also how humans evolved, uh, outside of, you know, outside of South Africa. So definitely, definitely, you know, recommend uh that to you in terms of your trip to Johannesburg.

Speaker 1: 16:49

Now, in terms of infrastructure, my God, johannesburg has first class infrastructure. As you may or may not know, johannesburg hosted the World Cup, or South Africa hosted the World Cup in 2010. And Johannesburg was one of the cities in South Africa that hosted the Games in the World Cup and also hosted the final due to its first class infrastructure. So getting round and back to Johannesburg is not difficult at all. There's a great bus network that operates in Johannesburg, just like Europe network that operates in Johannesburg, just like Europe. There's also a fantastic train network that can take you from Johannesburg to Soweto and vice versa and also to other parts of the city. Got a train service, just like you know Europe. There's also, you know you can take taxis. There's also, you know, minibus as well. South Africa also has minibuses, or Johannesburg has minibuses, and you've also got the. You know the buses, so the bus that we know, like, for example, in Europe, those kind of buses you know again, to take you around and about the city to see the great you know infrastructure. That's how that Johannesburg has.

Speaker 1: 18:04

Johannesburg also has high-rise buildings that you think that you'd be in New York or London or somewhere like that, but no, johannesburg has a lot of high-rise buildings, particularly the central business district and, like I said, johannesburg is the nerve centre or the business centre of South Africa, and so, in Johannesburg itself, apart from the central business district, where you, you know that is home to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, which is the richest stock exchange in Africa, you know, there's also a lot of, you know, like I said before, many mega companies that operate within the central business district of Johannesburg, and so you, companies that operate within the central business district of Johannesburg, and so, you know, going to the central business district is another thing I would recommend on your trip to Johannesburg. There's also the Johannesburg Art Gallery for you art lovers. There's also the Nelson Mandela Bridge, another piece of infrastructure there, where you can see the Toaster Tracton. There's also the um Hillbrow Tower and Ponce City, which is in Johannesburg, and again, there's also the Brixton Tower, which is, like you know, like the CNN Tower in Atlanta. So there's a lot to see and do in this African mega city.

Speaker 1: 19:23

Okay, so I will leave a couple of videos out there showing you the splendour of Johannesburg, this African megacity that you definitely, definitely must, you know, go to this festive time. And so this concludes my series looking about tourism in Africa. We've done Nairobi, accra and now Johannesburg. You know, in next year we'll do some more tourism, but for now this has been Tourism in Africa with myself, kwame guiding, broadcaster, journalist, broadcaster and entrepreneur, and next edition of Africa in Focus will be doing a special doing, highlighting the year 2024. A lot has happened in the African content this year, and so join me as we look back at a great year 2024, and so I thank you for listening to this edition of Africa in Focus. Please subscribe to Ghana Africa in Focus on YouTube and also on Spotify. So until next week, thank you for listening and we'll see you in the next edition of Africa in Focus.