A night’s staycation on Soweto
My friend Les whom I have known for more years than I am prepared to let on, lives in the UK. She comes out to South Africa as often as she can – after many decades she still hankers for the home country. Always up for an adventure, she leapt at the opportunity to spend the night in Soweto. So off she, a friend Nicky and I went to spend the night at Lebo’s Backpackers. The 24 hours turned out to be a perfect mix of riches – a very interesting tuk-tuk tour, a delicious meal in the boma, new faces and new stories, different insights, knowledge and experiences, lots of teasing and laughter.
Lebo Malepa’s story is one of grit, determination and dreaming big
Drive-through tourism
In his early 20s at the end of the 1990s, Lebo Malepa began selling curios along with many other street vendors near Hector Pieterson museum and along Vilakazi street in Soweto. It was the heyday of post-democracy euphoria, the Rainbow Nation and the world’s first headlines of 2 Nobel peace prize winners living on the same street. These being the Arch, Desmond Tutu and Madiba, Nelson Mandela. Up until the 1990s only the most intrepid international tourists visited Soweto. Post 1994, Soweto became the darling of international tourism to Jozi with busloads of visitors driving through as they gazed on “life in Soweto” and imbibed the guide’s commentary. They would disembark briefly at the memorial sites, buy souvenirs and leave.
Lebo wanted to change this. He wanted Sowetans to tell their story and for visitors to interact, to meet local residents, to smell, hear and feel township life as a lived experience rather than as spectacle.
Immersive experience
His vision began to grow in an organic way. As visitors expressed an interest in overnight stays in Soweto, he offered a room on an informal basis in his grandparents’ home in Orlando West. Interest grew and in 2003 he opened Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers.
To enable a slow pace and to allow tourists the opportunity to meet residents, Lebo took his visitors around on bicycles, initially borrowed from local residents. These tours became so popular that his fleet eventually exceeded one hundred bicycles.
And then came the tuk-tuks.
Community tourism or “everybody’s business”
But Lebo never saw his business as simply accommodation or tour guiding. He involved local residents – tailors to make uniforms, laundry workers, parking attendants, security. He converted dump sites to green spaces and food gardens, established a camping site. He introduced story telling evenings. An outdoor restaurant serves local food. Lebo’s works closely with various organizations and projects in the area, such as orphanages, youth clubs and schools. Some visitors get involved in working for these initiatives.
From Backpackers to full scale bed and breakfast
And from backpackers’ dormitories and camp sites, Lebo’s continued to grow into a fully-fledged guesthouse with 4 rooms, lovely courtyarded areas and a dining room with communal kitchen.
Lebo’s legacy
If there were a ten-star review for Lebo’s I would give it. Beautifully run, comfortable, lovely people and a great staycation. And at R1600 per person for dinner bed and breakfast per night (including wine with dinner) and the 2-hour tuk-tuk tour, it is also extraordinarily reasonable. Contact Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers
Tel: 011 936 3444
Cell: 084 851 8681
E-mail: lebo@sowetobackpackers.co.za