Travel with Manfred

Travelogues from around the world

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Copyright © 1997 by Manfred P.. All rights reserved.

Aug 3 - 10, 1997

When Hospitality and Crime Mix

Winter in Johannesburg

by

Manfred P.

Keywords: Johannesburg, Jo’burg, South Africa, Sun City, Game Park, Gold Reef City, tourist, travel trip report, travel log, travelogue.

I was welcomed by a friend who was puzzled that I made it in 10 minutes from touch down to arrival hall at Johannesburg airport. This was my first minute in South Africa and my first reminder of the hospitality of the South Africans. As you’ll see hospitality wouldn’t stop until I was back again at the departure hall a week later.

My friend chauffeured me to the hotel where I was smart enough to relax and rest for while. A little nap to gather some energy for the day ahead wouldn’t hurt. It felt good to stretch and rest in a soft bed. With revived energy, I started to explore the neighborhood. Rosebank, my temporary home, is an upscale northern suburb of Jo’burg. Most know it for The Mall, a shopping area covering four city blocks. I just randomly strolled around, from one store to another, from one restaurant to another, from one street corner to another. Continuously absorbing the environment around me. In the first hours in a new country it’s always fun to pick up the local life style which covers everything from how people dress, how they talk to each other, what they do and how they approach you.

It was pretty clear that I was in a well-off area. The shops were clean, the people dressed up, the cars expensive. For six hours I just roamed the vicinity. Whenever I left the four block area the streets turned empty, lifeless and a bit uninviting. Here the residential homes had walls around them with barbed wire mounted on the top. Since the sidewalks were deserted I usually just walked a block to look around the corner to see if it would improve. It didn’t. So, I was always quickly back were I started: at the Gucci shoes and the Lagerfeld dresses. I’m not into shopping so most of the places weren’t thrilling but they had a few cool places: a shop for spiritualism that covered everything from meditation music, books of yogis, to Buddha statues and oriental scents.

For the Rosebank neighborhood The Mall and the surrounding blocks as well as the Constantia Center formed the heart. Over the next days I spent some more time there late at night to browse and to have dinner. By 10 p.m. nearly all of the shops and some restaurants were closed. The area was a little empty but it was always easy to find a nice spot to fill the stomach.

With most of the places in Rosebank served international cuisine from Portuguese to Chinese, I couldn’t locate any special restaurants with African cuisine. For a unique meal we had to go north, about a half hour drive outside of Jo’burg, to a place called Carnivores. Even Steven Spielberg would have been impressed by the setting. The restaurant is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. This is quite common as I should learn during my stay. The entrance is through a wooden walkway that is on stilts on top of a small pond flanked by various trees. It must have been 9 p.m., it was dark, the air fresh and crisp. As we neared the walkway, the first wave of smell hit us, the smell of grilled meat. Strong and intensive. The restaurant was a rotunda. In the center of the universe was a large round grill, some 15 feet in diameter and 10 feet high. The open fire from the grill gave the place a warm comforting color and slowly removed the cold from within us. The tables surrounded the grill and the patrons were caught between the fire of the grill and the scary African masks with red glowing eyes that were hanging from the wall. Light was sedated. This way we could focus in on the smell. The menu was simple: Meat, meat and meat again. They didn’t call it Carnivores for nothing. We started with the simple stuff: beef and chicken. Then it got interesting: zebra followed by springbok and ostrich sausage. Then we spiced up the meal some more: crocodile and ostrich filet. The crocodile piece I had was from the tail and the two sides seemed to taste differently. The one side like chicken, the other like fish. Another new treat for my taste buds was the white mash-like side dish. It is most likely made out of maize. But I have no idea what it is called. Whenever the plate was half empty the waiters would bring a huge junk of meat on a yard long skewer and place a few slices on your plate. And they do this until you surrender which you indicate by removing the flag from the center of the table. The waiters were multi-talented and started singing a couple songs in between. I had a terrific time. We left in a fully stuffed but cheerful mood. The meal was not just a meal but a whole experience, an event for eyes, nose, mouth and -- to some degree -- even ears.

On Friday a colleague, took me out. She took me to a yuppie northern suburb, an artsy spot as I was told: Melville. She had picked Pomegranate, a trendy restaurant with a surprise menu. The menu is short: meat, fish, poultry or vegetarian. The surprise is that the meals are not preset. The chef will cook anything he feels like on that day for these four categories. The dinner was great, the conversation even better. My dinner companion drifted off to the topic of Cape Town quite often. There must really be something special about this city. The neighborhood around Pomegranate was a wee bit artsy with a café and some interestingly painted facades. The restaurant owners pool money together to pay a private security force to patrol the neighborhood at night to make sure the guests come again.

The highlight of the evening was yet to come. Next my friend took me to a dance bar to see her brother perform in a live act with reggae and rock from the 60s. The place was called Dockyards and was somewhere between Sandton and Pretoria. The place was my style. A relaxed, let-your-hair-down, and down-to-earth kind of place. The floor, made of wooden boards, could have been out of a Wild West saloon. The music was loud, about as deafening as you would expect from most dance places. The atmosphere was similar to that in country western places in the US. A well motivated crowd alternated between beer and dancing. People were clearly in a good mood. So was I. Taking a few turns on the dance floor took care of that. In short, a perfect evening.

On Saturday I finally was given an opportunity to leave the urban area. A friend took his son, a friend of his sun and me to Sun City. It’s about a 90 minute drive through various landscapes. We started out on the 511. The countryside was mostly barren and brown but some areas were used for cattle and farming, others were citrus plantations and people were selling bags of oranges on the side of the road or at intersections. The area was flat with some hills in the background that were dotted with some small trees. We crossed the Hartbeespoort Lake at the dam. This season was very wet and the dam was actually overflowing. The run-off formed a beautiful cascading waterfall with white water. The contrast between the white water and the red rock that formed the river bed made it attractive. The water also didn’t just fall in one direction but due to the rock formations in two. From Hartbeespoort it wasn’t far to some platinum mines, mainly visible through the dirt piles and the mining towers. Going on what is similar to a small interstate freeway in the US with occasional intersections we reached Sun City mid-morning.

My friend dropped the boys off at the entrance gate and we headed a handful of miles south for the Pilanesberg National Park that surrounds Sun City. With 200 square miles it is the fifth largest national park in RSA (Republic of South Africa). We took the Kwa Maritane entrance to the game park. Kwa Maritane translates to "Place of the Rock". We sat in a 4x4, had all windows rolled down, and cruised at very low speed along the dirt road meandering the park. It was nice. The weather couldn’t have been any nicer. Sunshine and 80F (25C) degrees. It felt great to breath the warm air. There was no cloud on the horizon. Our eyes were wandering across the vicinity on the look-out for game. It wouldn’t take long and we would watch an elephant family grass near the road. Slowly over time we added zebra, springbok, gnu, wildebeest, baboon, impala, warthog and some colorful birds to our list. On a few occasions we thought we spotted some big 5 game such as a baby rhino and a buffalo. We went off-road for a closer inspection but the baby rhino turned out to be a warthog and the buffalo a gnu. Equally important to the joy of spending the day in a game park was the scenery. Volcanoes were active here some million years ago. The remnants are still here in the form of hills. On the top of these hills we rested. Not just our body but also our soul. We sat down, it was very quiet. The wind moved some leaves in the bushed nearby, but other than that there was no noise and no motion. Our eyes slowly hugged the valley with the lake and the hills behind it. The landscape was light brown, dry, and only the occasional tree or bush added some pattern to the brown color. The rivers were carrying lots of water and the lake in the center was several hundred feet wide. As the signs said, some time ago there was even farming here. I could have spent the whole afternoon just sitting here, resting and enjoying the view.

Mid-afternoon we had completed the circle within the Pilanesberg National Park and left it at the Bakubung gate after having a refreshment at the lodge. The lodge buildings had thatched roofs with long thin metal poles next to them. The poles were easily 30 feet high and I immediately concluded that they had to be TV antennas. I was wrong. They are lightning rods. South Africa has heavy summer thunderstorms with massive rain falls and lightning. Lightning rods can actually be found anywhere but here they just looked especially weird as they don’t fit the primitive and natural image that the lodge tries to portray.

Bakubung Gate is just west of Sun City. Sun City is the maximum contrast to the national park. It is one of South Africa’s largest vacation resorts with casinos and a theme park. It is the South African equivalent to Las Vegas, just smaller. The whole area can only be entered through the Sun City gate. A monorail leads to the various hotels and the casino. Some of hotels are situated with a lovely view of the game park that is enclosing it, and they have the expected pools and styled restaurants. A golf course of course can’t be missing either. Even the games in the casino are the same as in Las Vegas, just the decoration of the slot machines, etc. is more in tune with South Africa. The theme park is based on a myth that some time long long ago a tribe moved down from northern parts of Africa following some divine signs. On the search for their destiny they found the Valley of the Sun and settled. Here they built a sophisticated civilization that collected riches in forms of diamonds and precious metals. To honor their leaders they built a palace. Due to some unknown reason, an earthquake erupted and wiped out the complete civilization without leaving any traces behind. In the last three years they have rebuild this civilization. A bridge with elephant statues to the left and right connects the plaza with the rest of the city (now the casino). Next to the bridge is a leopard cove from where mysterious noises emit. The speakers are easy to see. A fire is burning in the cove and the walls are black from the smoke. Every hour on the hour smoke comes from the vents and fissures on the bridge and the destructive noise gets louder and visitors can relive the catastrophic earth quake. Last season the bridge was even shaking but they must have turned off that switch now. From the plaza one can overlook the "garden", a water park with slides, rides, and a wave pool with a sand beach. Everything that makes a kid’s heart beat faster is here. Behind the water park is the Palace. The Palace is a five star hotel created in the last three years. Today’s Palace outshines even the original palace says the sign. If that is so, I cannot tell, but the interior and exterior design is unique and impressive. When you drive up, the shiny bronze-colored sculpture of a leopard hunting several impalas is the first thing that catches your eyes. The Palace’s entrance hall is a rotunda with a mosaic floor of various African animals and a ceiling painted in a game motif. The sun roof of the right wing fascinated me. The glass was held up by an ivory tusk-looking structure. Cute idea I thought. Similarly, they had a tusk room that functioned as a bar with tusk look-alikes reaching from the floor to the ceiling spanning an arch. The right wing of the hotel held at a metal life-sized elephant sculpture. At this closeness it becomes obvious how big these animals are. The restaurant in the center also has an elephant motif. The tables are arranged around a fountain of several of these large animals. The whole set-up helps people to escape reality for a weekend and keeps the myth alive.

Jo’burg doesn’t have too many sights. A known tourist trap is the Gold Reef City. A gold reef is the gold carrying layer in the soil. Gold Reef City is build around a closed gold mine. The mine was shut in the 70s when the mine with 4 ounces of gold per ton wasn’t cost effective anymore. The main shaft is 3000 feet deep, and the deepest spot of this mine is about twice as deep. Other mines in South Africa go 12,000 feet down. At a temperature increase of 20 degrees F (10 C) per 3000 feet, it must be like a sauna at the bottom of these deep mines. We only descended 600 feet and were shown around in a guided tour. Some of the facts were quite interesting. All miners had to and still must learn a mining language which consists of 20 per cent English a mix of various African languages. Only after the language test is passed can one go down into the mine for work. The language consists of 2,000 words and rumor has it that 1,000 thereof are swearwords. The language is called Fanakalo and was supposed to become the lingua franca. It's not surprising though that this never happened because Fanakalo as work language was seen as the language of oppression. The wooden poles used to stabilize the shafts and walkways in large depth can resist the pressure only short time and must be checked every day. If found dangerous another pole is added. The wood has to be eucalyptus as it is oily and doesn’t rot because of the moisture. Explosions are always done at the end of a shift so that the dust has several hours to settle before people return. The mine is worked in three shifts of 8 hours. After a long process of crumbling, chemical processing, etc. the gold has been extracted out of the rock into rough gold. We saw a demonstration how in an electrical oven the gold is heated to 800 degrees (C) where it is liquid. They then poured the molten gold into a iron cast of bar shape. It solidifies quickly. In 30 seconds it was solid. On the way out we could touch and lift a rough gold bar which weighs 25 lbs (12 kg). Such a bar is worth about US$100,000. I am satisfied and happy with something else that is golden: golden sunshine.

To compensate for the tourist trap we needed to do something un-touristy. A friend and I went to downtown Jo’burg. We started with an aerial view of the city from The Top of Africa, the 50th floor of the Carlton Hotel. This 50 floor building is the tallest building in all of Africa. Hence the name. The sun was intensive up here, nearly blinding. Once we had seen Jo’burg from above we explored it at ground level, i.e. we strolled around downtown for an hour. Since it was Sunday the city was quiet and calm, not absolutely dead but also not lively. The narrow Mall streets were pedestrian zones. Interesting was the fact that right next to and I think even under the St. Mary’s Anglican Cathedral was a parking structure. Jo’burg doesn’t have consistent architecture, it’s a big mix. Notable were also the lightning rods. Some buildings such as the Holiday Inn Hotel and the Jo’burg Stock Exchange were sparkling and shining in the late afternoon sun. Other city blocks were torn down. Walking with a friend and having hardly any money in my pocket I felt quite safe despite the fact that a lot of people recommend against walking around here. The walk wasn’t particularly scenic or impressive but I still wanted to do it to make sure I am not missing anything. It’s good to get a feeling for the city I think, and a first hand impression counts more than some hear say stories about how bad it is. For me it’s always as important to see the low lights as it is to experience the highlights.

Time flies. Before I knew it I was back at Jo’burg airport. Again I was surrounded by friends. Various people left for London and Cape Town at about the same time so a whole group of us got together for a temporary farewell drink at the airport coffee shop. I was so relaxed and into chatting that I nearly overlooked time and missed the plane.

The key impressions I made on my first exploration of Jo’burg and vicinity are the friendliness/hospitality of the people, the high crime rate and the wide spread of the city.

It’s strange that hospitality and crime go hand in hand in South Africa. I was treated really well, everybody wanted to make sure that I was well taken care off. People were going out of their way to make life convenient for me and to assure that I was being entertained. They got up early for me, drove for hours to pick me up, drop me off or show me around at various places. E.g. when we went to Melville for dinner, the colleague went home first to make dinner for her son before she took me out. Another friend got up at 5 a.m. to pick up a coworker at 7. These are things that I would not take for granted. To me these are special treats. My expectation would be that people catch a cab to the hotel if they arrive at such an ungodly hour on the weekend. They did so much for me that I felt guilty of putting so much burden on them.

Despite all this friendliness and hospitality, South Africa, Jo’burg in particular, has a down side. Crime. Everybody deals with it on a daily basis. It starts with your house being surrounded by a wall, the wall having barbed wire and maybe an electrical fence on top, the gate opener being remotely controlled such that you don’t have to get out of the safety of your car when you return to your home. Then it continues with steering wheel locks or gear locks when you park your car, satellite tracking systems for larger cars, taking the face plate off the radio, etc. Avoiding certain neighborhoods, insuring everything from the mobile phone, laptop and car to household goods and TV. Insurance companies make big money, rates are high as you can imagine. The new light blue license plates from people in Jo'burg end in GP, short for Gauteng Province. It's a local joke that the GP on the license plates really stands for "Gangsters' Paradise".

Cars are stolen at records rates. South Africa is supposedly the car theft capital of the world, with a car being stolen every 6 seconds. 80,000 cars a year. Nonetheless, BMWs and Mercs are quite popular. Life is worth significantly less than a car. If people want to steal your car they frequently don’t ask, just put a bullet in your head, drag your corpse out of your car and drive off. I heard stories that the driver made a "lucky" escape but that the baby daughter or son on the back seat disappeared together with the car forever. Scary thoughts. When I was waiting at the fax machine one morning, people walked by and the lady said "I am so glad to be alive", to which someone else responded "Why? What happened?" The woman drove to work when guns were fired and bullets were flying through the air. Nothing happened luckily. Not today anyway. I have seen enough cars with bullet holes in the windshield to know that things like this must happen occasionally. Someone else had 3 break ins in her home in just two years. She added that since she got the electrical fence it stopped. Everybody says to avoid the city center at all cost. The hotel even went to the unwarranted extreme to recommend to not leave the hotel after sunset. Another friend of mine was driving on the freeway when a big naked woman jumped onto the road and tried to throw herself in front of the car. I heard a few more stories about attempted car jacking from the people to whom it happened. It must effect one’s attitude and outlook if one is continuously surrounded by such a high crime rate.

Jo’burg (and other cities I was told) are spread over a large area. There are no real city and town centers. Most businesses have moved out of downtown and are settling near Midrand somewhere between Jo’burg and Pretoria. The commute from business to business or from home to business is large. Many people want to avoid living in Jo’burg so they live in Pretoria and commute daily for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening. Restaurants are somewhere far away from the center, sometimes in the middle of nowhere. Still they attract guests. Interestingly most of the relevant places are north of downtown. Driving an our to get to a restaurant is quite acceptable here. I felt like in Los Angeles. Spending 20 hours per week in the car is seen as normal, and without a car living here is impossible. A car is essential as distances are far and public transport doesn’t exist or is too unsafe.

Certain things are different here than anywhere else and hence unusual. When we went to the Pomegranate restaurant I would have never found it. It was in a regular home, looked like it from the outside too. The main entrance was a small door and was additionally locked by an iron gate. I would have never expected this to be the entrance to a restaurant. Similar, at the Constantia Center there are supposedly multiple dance clubs. I have been there several times and I only found a single place called Krypton that I thought could be a dance club. I must be either blind or these clubs are again hiding behind doors that I would never think of as entrances to night spots. On the last day a girl at the Gold Reef City lifted the clouds concerning the Krypton. I was too scared to go in, as I wasn’t sure what it is and thought that most likely it is a nude bar. Anyway, it supposedly is just a normal rave club. The next time I’ll have to check it out from the inside.

The South African woman I met on Mauritius, the colleague who took me out here in Jo’burg as well as the guy next to me on the plane back to Europe, all three, were fascinated by Cape Town. Hearing the same stories that paint Cape Town as the best place on earth, a place full of live, a relaxed beach city, a city in tune with nature, a city with beautiful surroundings, a city with friendly people from three people I start to believe them. There must be something special about it. It sounds to me that Cape Town is calling and I need to heed to the call.

South Africa is a strange mix. A mix of the first world with a good infrastructure and the third world with squat camps and poverty. The languages are a kaleidoscope. Six official languages and many additional dialects. South Africa is a very attractive place to many people. Lots of people came here for a short stay and never left. I haven’t seen this addictive attraction yet. But I have spotted some elements of the local beauty. Contrasts are all surrounding: Hospitality and crime are just one.