Early Mandela Day celebrations with our rolling soup kitchen

14 July 2016 | Carina van Wyk

City Sightseeing's Team Red couldn't contain their excitement about our soup day

Mandela Day arrived early this year, with City Sightseeing Johannesburg and the attractions along our route dishing out soup at our stops on Thursday, 14 July.

Our rolling soup kitchen ensured that hundreds of Jozi residents had at least one warm and healthy meal for the day.

Delicious butternut soup served to passers by at Constitution Hill

The initiative started at the SAB World of Beer (stop 15) where the first soup was served from 9.30am onwards.

As word spread people start queueing for soup here and at our other stops that participated: Newtown Junction MallOrigins Centre at Wits (stop 10)Constitution Hill (stop 11), Park Station, Carlton Centre, the Apartheid Museum (stop 5) and the Soweto Hotel (on our Soweto tour).

Our soup station at Constitution Hill

Evidence Moyo, who lives close to Constitution Hill, loved receiving a free cup of butternut soup, especially in such financially trying times. "Nowadays, things are hard," he said.

"It's a big surprise because I was very hungry," said a delighted Samuel Ndlovu while sipping on his soup.

Musa Ndlovu, Samuel Ndlovu and Evidence Moyo loved their soup

"Today we've shown that Jozi really is the golden heart of Gauteng and also South Africa," said Christine Tworeck, general manager of City Sightseeing Johannesburg. "For me, the highlight was joining forces with the interesting and exciting attractions at our various stops to treat the citizens of Jozi to a hearty cup of soup," she added.

Free soup served at Park Station

Our Mandela Day rolling soup kitchen formed part of the new Escape into Jozi campaign, an initiative to promote Johannesburg's tourist attractions in partnership with the Gauteng Tourism Authority.

Our team at Constitution Hill

Our work for Mandela Day is not done, however. We're also giving away 67 sets of two City Sightseeing tickets to people making a difference in their communities in Joburg and Cape Town. Find out how you can nominate someone .