Soweto (South Western Townships) might be famous as South Africa’s hotspot during the 70’s, but few know that there is so much more to Soweto. The tour includes a visit to the new Prestige Park and Orlando West, travelling past homes of the rich and famous, houses of Winnie Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. We also stop at the Mandela  Museum, as well as the Hector Peterson Memorial for a glimpse into the history of SOWETO.

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Soweto is an urban area west of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name, an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships, refers to its origins as a Black township under South Africa's Apartheid government. The population has historically been overwhelmingly Black and some of the watershed events in the struggle against Apartheid occurred in the township.

Many parts of Soweto rank among the poorest in Johannesburg, although individual townships tend to have a mix of wealthier and poorer residents. In general, households in the outlying areas to the northwest and southeast have lower incomes, while those in southwestern areas tend to have higher incomes.

The economic development of Soweto was severely curtailed by the apartheid state, which provided very limited infrastructure and prevented residents from creating their own businesses. Roads remained unpaved, and many residents had to share one tap between four houses

Here we are in Soweto. We just drove past Archbishop Desmond Tutu's house, the gentle Anglican cleric who preached against apartheid. I would have missed the undistinguished house entirely had, our local Soweto guide not pointed it out. It looked like virtually every other place on the crowded block, with its grilled windows, boxy shape, and brick walls. Tutu doesn't stay here much, but not because he moved uptown to fancier digs. The crowds flocking to see the famous cleric's home apparently got to be too much. The presence of the Mandela Family Museum, which is just down the block, obviously didn't help. Both Tutu and Mandela, of course, whose kind face can be seen throughout the township on monuments and billboards, won the Noble Peace Prize. No wonder it's such a popular street!

Nelson Mandela's humble little house in Orlando West, Soweto, now called the Mandela Family Museum, is an interesting stopover for those keen to imbibe a slice of authentic history on the world's most famous former prisoner.

The museum, a house comprising four inter-leading rooms, contains a rather higgledy-piggledy assortment of memorabilia, paintings and photographs of the Mandela family, as well as a collection of honorary doctorates bestowed on Mandela by universities and institutions around the world.

There's also a boxing belt from Sugar Ray Leonard, a multi-coloured cloak presented to the former president, and a row of his old boots.

The matchbox home, at 8115 Ngakane Street, was Mandela's first house. He moved there with his first wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase, in 1946. After their divorce in 1957, she moved out.

The museum is named after one of the first casualties of the march through Soweto on 16 June 1976, when police were ordered to shoot at a crowd of demonstrating students. Sam Nzima's photograph of the mortally wounded Hector Pieterson carried by a horrified youngster and his wailing sister came to symbolise the contribution of the youth to the liberation struggle. The museum is next to the Hector Pieterson Memorial, and the whole area has been declared a national heritage site.

Visitors move along a series of ramps and look through strategically placed windows at important scenes - including Orlando Stadium and the police station - and view exhibits such as television footage of the uprising. Participants and witnesses are invited to record their own experiences of the day. Knowledgeable tour guides include Hector's sister, Antoinette Sithole.

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