Tales of the Cape crusader 1 Edition

• Published in: Herald (Glasgow, Scotland)
• Main Author: Portway, Christopher
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Glasgow (UK) Gannett Media Corp 10.08.1998

Directly south-east of Johannesburg lies Natal and, on the coast again, the resort port of Durban. The smallest of South Africa's four provinces, Natal contains a huge diversity of geography from the Drakensberg mountains to India Ocean beaches by way of Anglo-Boer and Zulu battlefields, unravaged game parks and spectacular countryside through which the roads and railway run. I journeyed there by train - an ordinary train this time, a 13-hour ride (if the train's not late - which it was) for a second class return of #27 including overnight berth. Third class is even cheaper. Before and after Pietermaritzburg the terrain bucks itself into a region known as "The Valley of 1000 Hills" - part of the Drakensbergs sprinkled with rocky gorges, spectacular waterfalls and lush vegetation. Johannesburg - "City of Gold" as it is called - is by far the largest urban complex in Africa south of Cairo with an official population exceeding three million but, in reality, probably double that. Brash, gritty, ever-expanding, ugly are adjectives that can be applied. However, hand-in-hand goes wealth, poverty, energy, and a beautiful climate. The eye-searing poverty is to be seen in squatter camps and black townships that adjoin and ring the centre. Of the latter the largest is Soweto, a sprawl of tightly packed urbanity that can be visited - if viewing poverty is acceptable to you - on escorted group tours. Not that Soweto is all slum; far from it for here and there are pockets of exceedingly desirable real estate.