A land in transit

Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton, Johannesburg

Wednesday 3rd September

Durban

Today was a long day of travelling, making the 8 hour journey from Johannesburg to Durban, stopping just twice: at Heidelberg just outside Jo'burg and at Ladysmith, home to the famous Black Mombaso choir.

Heidelberg is a picturesque town looking exactly as one might expect a South African town to look, while Ladysmith seemed to be entirely focussed around just one street.  With little of note apart from a rather impressive Sufi mosque, the only remarkable thing about Ladysmith was that we were the only white people to be seen and stuck out like a sort thumb - a real lesson in how conspicuous it feels to be in a minority.

While the journey felt at times monotonous on a road so straight the Romans could have built it, with tolls so frequent the Romans could have created them as well, we did manage to see some wildlife along the way: impala, steenbok, ostriches, flamingos and guinea fowl just some.

However, the most unusual sight had to be the man at the side of a 4-lane motorway holding up a slaughtered hog above his head, offering it for sale to the passing motorists.  We chose to decline his offer.

Shortly before Ladysmith, there was a descent so rapid it caused ears to pop as we left the Highveld for the Lowveld.  Here, the landscape became more mountainous and the trees more plentiful.

As we observed the changes on our journey, it seemed right (if a little clichéd) to reflect on the journey South Africa has come on since my parents lived here more than three decades ago.

They knew the South Africa of apartheid at a time when Nelson Mandela was regarded as a terrorist and the Western world was yet to take notice of a system described by the South African authorities as "good neighbourliness".

Sitting last night in Sandton's (aptly named) Nelson Mandela Square, we were just one of a multitude of races and nationalities enjoying equality in a truly rainbow nation.

While it is clear that vast inequalities still exist - the number of poor, exclusively black townships with sub-standard accommodation we passed today is testament to this - it is incredible how much this country has travelled in the last 20 years since Mandela's release from prison.

One example of that journey was watching crowds of black children walking home from the city's top schools in their blazers and ties.  When my parents lived here thirty years ago, it would have been unheard of for black children to attend such educational establishments, and certainly not to attend the same schools as white children.

There may be a long road yet to travel to achieve complete equality, but as the billboard in Nelson Mandela Square red, "it always seems impossible until it's done".