A guest at The Soweto Hotel, there for the duration of his stay in the country, hesitates for a brief moment at the entrance. He wrestles the impulse to approach a group of complete strangers, but very quickly the idea gets the better of him. We’re assembled outside warming up on our bikes while we wait for our cycling tour of Kliptown to get underway. With our guide’s go ahead, the excited traveler shares his take on the tour. He volunteers his experience, having been on the tour the day before, and offers a glowing account. Soon into our own ride we bear witness to the knowledgeable and passionate individual that was described to us mere minutes ago. For the next 4 hours T.K will lead us through a community where history’s presence is both understated and more than meets the eye.

Our round trip starts at the foot of the Freedom Tower, the tall monument that presides over the Walter Sisulu Square of Remembrance. The tower’s a living monument built from reclaimed materials from the demolition of old apartheid era houses – a kind of salute to the resilience of the families that lived there and have now been relocated to a nearby RDP development. Inside, the tower houses the 10 principles of the Freedom Charter that form the foundation of the country’s constitution. Directly above the engraved stone is an “X” cutout in the ceiling, symbolising the mark that is everyone’s democratic right. But the “X” also unifies the four corners of Gauteng. To the north is the city, Vereeneging to the East, Kliptown to the South and Mandela’s home in the West.

Soon after, we find ourselves at a nearby mosque. The mosque is a modest looking house that became a sanctuary for those displaced by the madness of the Group Areas act in the 1940s and 50s. Ironically though, Kliptown has remained a culturally and religiously diverse community, the very thing the act sought to undo. Within a short pedaling distance we get to Oom Bolo’s. Oom Bolo, an avid collector of anything vintage has a varied collection compromising chilling reminders of the daily injustice of apartheid, like a thoroughly used Dompass, to the more run of the mill items like storage tins. Visitors can order a quick-bite from the kitchen and take a seat while Oom Bolo shares personal tales of Kliptown.

In the heart of the informal settlement we find Charlette Maxeke House, an official Heritage site honouring a woman known as a mother of black freedom in South Africa and the first black woman to graduate from Ohio’s Wilberforce University. But before we make our way there, we stop elsewhere, where we look over a large open field resembling any other.

Suddenly T.K asks us, “Have any of you seen the movie Tsotsi?” We’re confused. He continues and shares some movie trivia revealing that this is one of the locations used in the film. It’s then that we begin to appreciate the unique brand of historical facts mixed with the personal anecdotes that characterize his guided tours and what makes them so out of the ordinary.