Nearby is Rave, where dancing starts Saturday night and goes well into Sunday morning. Soweto should, of course, be part of a visit. It's wiser to spend a few extra dollars for a more intimate, inside view. On a recent visit, for example, I hired a guide to arrange a tour of shebeens and a township soccer match. And it does indeed remain grossly under-serviced.
Uncollected trash seems strewn in every field.
Unemployment, overcrowding and crime are just a few of its problems. But Soweto's image remains much worse than its reality. It is not just a sum of fragile tin shanties ruled by gangs and warlords. Most Soweto homes have electricity and running water, and if the massive sprawl suffers in comparison with Jo'burg's affluent suburbs, it is hardly just a massive African slum. I have to disabuse them of a lot of preconceived ideas because they're surprised to see we have infrastructure, that there are good things about life here.