Malume Joseph’s car disappears around a corner and I am on my own outside Park Station.

So this is Johannesburg! I have to admit, it’s quite overwhelming. There are cars hooting, policemen at every corner and just far too many people.

Zweli told me to go inside Park Station and find the bus ticket counter and wait there. He said I am not to look like I don’t know where I am. I need to look as though I have a purpose, so thieves don’t try anything. If I am approached by the police I mustn’t make eye contact and I must explain calmly and respectfully that I am waiting for my brother to come pick me up. Zweli said if I remember those things, I should be fine.

I am nervous and excited all at the same time. I can tell that, like the newspaper said, this place is booming with opportunity. I’ll definitely find a job soon. At least, that’s what I keep saying to myself.

I find the bus ticket counter and sit down on a bench nearby. Two hours pass. A stranger comes up to me and asks directions to Hillbrow, and I suddenly feel awkward. I don’t want to admit to being new to the city. I’m about to tell him I can’t help when a good-looking man approaches us confidently, dressed in fashionable brown baggy pants and a white shirt, and a city-style hat with brim. Zweli!

He looks at once the same and slightly different. He seems more grown up; more of a man, I guess. Zweli grins and waves at me, seeming very happy to see me. I wave back awkwardly, wondering who the other guy walking with him is.

“Well, just look at you. Little Muzi is all grown up. It’s great to see you, my brother. Let’s get going. Sophiatown is not around the corner. By the way, this is my good friend, Lebo. He drove me here,” he says.

Lebo nods at me and takes my suitcase and gestures towards the exit. We walk out of the station and into the parking lot, where Lebo leads us to a busted old Chevy and puts my case in the boot.

Then we set off.

We’ve been driving for at least 45 minutes when I see a large, worn-out sign that reads, ‘Welcome to Sophiatown’.

My word, Sophiatown is a place like no other: a buzzing township teeming with people! There are children playing in the streets, people dancing to jazz music outside their houses, and women selling fruit and vegetables on the side of the road. There is also this feeling in the air; I don’t know how to describe it. I guess it’s a feeling of joy, adventure and constant partying all rolled in one. You can’t help but feel like you are in the right place for enjoying yourself.

Zweli turns to look at me from the front seat and says, “Welcome to the city that never sleeps, bafo. If you come here with your eyes closed, it will swallow you whole, mfanawam. Welcome to Sophiatown, the place where dreams come to live or die, depending on the person!” he exclaims. Then both he and Lebo laugh.

“Don’t listen to your brother. You will really like it here, you wait and see. Joburg has something for everyone. And when you find that ‘something’, you will wonder how you lived without it for so long,” Lebo says.

I really hope he is right, because that gnawing doubt I had before is growing by the second. I need to focus on my goal right now, but I’m afraid there may be many distractions. Here I am, fresh from Natal, in a city full of temptations. Lord help me!

***

Tell us: Have you heard stories about Sophiatown? What have you heard?