by Elle Morena

Created on: September 03, 2008   Last Updated: December 10, 2009

Travel in South Africa, in Johannesburg and its surrounding areas in 1994 was dangerous. 1994 was the year Nelson Mendela's party won the elections and apartheid was abolished. South Africa thereafter underwent tremendous change and development. It was also the time when South Africa opened its country to tourism on a large scale.

I heard from the pilots of Malaysian Airlines that they hired body guards to escort them when they need to go shopping and to move around in the city area. Even with guards they were robbed in broad day light. They were advised not to leave the city area. The city is surrounded by slumps and visually you could see how poor the overall population was then.

Independent travel at that time was not advisable. It is better if tourist join a tour group. I was with a tour group and we were supposed to be touring Johannesburg and its surrounding areas for 8 days. Security was very tight at that time as tension was high because elections was near. This election made history as Nelson Mendela's party won and apartheid was abolished. Our bus driver, a white African, has an automatic rifle next to him in the bus and he was in constant contact with his tour company all time for up-dates on road blocks and disturbances on certain roads.

We were not told of how dangerous the situation was but I could feel the aggression and the high tension in the city between the black African and the white Africans. I could see many posters lining the roads, with Mendela's pictures and the words Freedom, signifying the end of white rule.

We had a quick tour of Johannesburg, and it was followed by a mini safari in the out skirts of the city, where the feeling of fear quickly dissipated as we had a great time horse riding and watching wild animals in the enclosure of the area. For dinner, we had crocodile meat, that tasted good. I was told that crocodile meat is very "heaty", like any wild life, so we had to drink plenty of water.

After two nights at the mini safari we were headed towards Sun City a desert resort similar to Las Vegas. As most of the other tours were canceled, we were the only tour group there. Needless to say, we were up graded to The Palace Hotel, the best in Sun City. The hotel itself was opulent, decorated with statues of huge wild animals, theme of African culture and music could be seen and heard. As Sun City was rather devoid of people, we just hung around the hotel area and tried our luck at the slot machines. There is also a golf course designed by Greg Norman and one of the hazards, is a crocodile pond.

There after we proceeded on to Johannesburg again and we were "kept" in a hotel until our flight home. We were warned not to venture out of the hotel for our own safety.

Before our flight home we were brought shopping, in a multi-storey shoplot. Entering the shop is like going to "jail". The shops are all secured with steel bars and passwords are used to enter.

Overall it was an interesting quick tour of Johannesburg in 1994. Admittedly, we did not get to see as much as we anticipated but we were the first tour group from Malaysia to visit South Africa. Previously, due to apartheid white rule, South Africa did not have any diplomatic relations with Malaysia and leisure travel to South Africa was banned. Before 1994, South Africa was still under trade sanctions from the global community.

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