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Apartheid Museum Pretoria |
In 1995 the South African government set up a process for the granting of casino licenses, establishing an agency to do this called the Gambling Board. The bid documents stipulated that bidders should demonstrate how they would attract tourism and thereby grow the economy and stimulate job creation.
A consortium, called Akani Egoli (
The cost of the construction of what became the
I could have stayed in the museum all day, I found it so interesting and was totally absorbed with the various exhibits. The audio tour was excellent and gave you a good insight into the plight and struggles of a multi cultural Africa.
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Kath with her audio tour headset |
Apartheid was a system of laws and measures designed to oppress the rights of blacks, while maintaining white supremacy within the ranks of the government as well as society. These rules and regulations were often harsh and unjust in nature.
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Picture Exhibits |
It would be difficult to talk about the apartheid museum without some mention of Nelson Mandela, as there is a section of the museum which is dedicated to him and his involvement with ANC.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosa pronunciation: [xoˈliːɬaɬa manˈdeːla]; born 18 July 1918) is a South African politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, the first ever to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before being elected President, Mandela was a militant anti-apartheid activist, and the leader and co-founder of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life. Mandela went on to serve 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to the establishment of democracy in 1994. As President, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation, while introducing policies aimed at combating poverty and inequality in South Africa .[2][3]
In South Africa , Mandela is often known as Madiba, his Xhosa clan name; or as tata (Xhosa: father).[4] Mandela has received more than 250 awards over four decades.
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F.W. de Klerk & Nelson Mandela |
One experience that Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu all have in common is that they were all Zulu Bantu Boys, which at the age of 16 had to be circumcised by a traditional surgeon, were the elder of the village would walk down the line of 16 year old boys, making a ring type cut of their foreskins until they fell off. The boys could not so much as blink or show any emotion, it was "A right of Passage" that took them beyond pain. They shouted, Ndiyindola "I am the Man". Nelson Mandela said that he did not shout as loud as he could and that he felt a tear trickle down his cheeks.
For Nelson Mandela the circumcision was some thing that linked him to his ancestors, in losing part of his manhood he became a man.
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Nelson Mandela |
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Gold Reef City Theme Park Gold stampmills |
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Stampmill for crushing gold ore. |
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Gold Reef City Theme Park |
Unfortunately we were running out of time to enter the theme park, as we still had to drive through Johannesburg to reach the airport for our late afternoon departure. We still managed to take some pictures as we travelled through the city.
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Johannesburg Skyline |
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Johannesburg Skyline GPO Tower even has World Cup fever!! Johannesburg World Cup Stadium |
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Neighbourhood street scenes World Cup sign in Johannesburg Airport |
I'm sure that the World Cup will help the people of South Africa, I would like to think so!!
All in all we had a wonderful holiday, and hope to return to SA one day, who knows!