Destination: South Africa

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK INFORMATION

Top Tens

Architectural highlights

South Africa’s history is written in its architecture. Hunt out these landmarks, and watch the story unfold before you.

Regina Mundi Church in Soweto
Cape Dutch houses along Church St in Tulbagh
Robben Island prison, where Mandela was incarcerated
Alayam Hindu Temple in Durban
Owal Mosque and Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap area
Small, brightly coloured Xhosa houses in the villages inland from the Wild Coast
Johannesburg’s Constitutional Court)
Pretoria’s Church Sq and Voortrekker Monument
Linton Panel in Cape Town’s South African Museum
Freedom Park

Classic Books

The anti-apartheid struggle produced an unsurpassed collection of literature – essential reading to get into the heart of the country.

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela|
The Marabi Dance by Modikwe Dikobe
My Traitor’s Heart by Rian Malan
A Burning Hunger: One Family’s Struggle Against Apartheid by Lynda Schuster
Singing Away the Hunger: Stories of a Life in Lesotho by Mpho ‘M’atsepo Nthunya
The Mind of South Africa by Allister Sparks
Let My People Go by Albert Luthuli
The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
The Lying Days by Nadine Gordimer

Great Films

Watch some of these films for a mesmerising and often challenging introduction to South Africa.

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (Lee Hirsch, 2003)
U-Carmen eKhayalitsha (Mark Dornford-May, 2004)
Drum (Zola Maseko, 2005)
Zulu Love Letter (Ramadan Suleman, 2004)
Sarafina! (Darrell Roodt, 1992)
Boy Called Twist (Timothy Greene, 2004)
Mapantsula (Oliver Schmitz, 1988)
In My Country (John Boorman, 2005)
A World Apart (Chris Menges, 1988)
Friends (Elaine Proctor, 1993)

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