By Nqobani Khumalo

Last year for my birthday I jumped off the Orlando Towers in Johannesburg’s most famous township, Soweto.  My birthday happened to fall very conveniently on a Saturday so I got a good friend of mine to accompany me. She had brought along a French colleague whom she was tasked with entertaining for the duration of his stay and he was over the moon that he was going to drive in an actual township! In Soweto, of all the famous townships in South Africa!
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“In Soweto, Don’t Look Anyone In The Eye…”

We set off mid-morning on a cool winter morning, and our French visitor got to drive. As we got closer to the towers he asked if there were any tips we could impart on dealing with the locals and if he might expect to be accosted because of the colour of his skin. I told him that most people would just be going about their business and he should simply enjoy the experience. “Just don’t look anyone in the eye,” I added. There was a silence in the car before he asked in this cute accent “You are serrrious?” That’s when we burst out laughing. I wish I’d captured the look on his face!

Once we got to the towers I was directed to a container-like steel structure which served as the admin, reception and weighing-in section. Two pretty young women took me through the process and after signing what seemed like 10 indemnity forms and being weighed, my friend - who was coming up to watch - and I were led to sit on concrete benches where a funkily-dressed young man very seriously took us through what to expect and the dos and don’ts of bungee jumping and bungee swinging.

(FYI:  For a bungee jump, your legs are tied together and you leap down head-first, possibly with arms akimbo.  A bungee-swing entails having a rope and clasps around your mid-section and torso and you jump off the ledge one leg first as though stepping over something, with - for beginners - hands firmly grasping the rope that’ll hold you suspended between the two swing-points - in this case, the two towers.)

Learn more about all the different adventure activities South Africa has to offer.

Up To The Top Of The Orlando Towers

Admin, signing and initial briefing done, we chugged our way up the side of one of the towers in a red cage, getting a wonderful view of Soweto all around us getting smaller and smaller.

Once at the top, a cute 5-foot instructor gave me a run-down of what was about to happen. She high-fived me every couple of sentences with her little hand (I assume they do this with the corporate and tourist groups to relax them or get the team-spirit feeling going…)

Anyway, Tiny-hand Girl told me how I should step into the air with my head forward or I could smack it open against the step if I should lean backwards… Hmm, brains flying through the air in slow-motion. Sobering.

Meanwhile, my spectator friend had become almost frantic with fear, wanting a last hug and trying to get reassurance from the other instructors that everything was indeed okay and that no, none of their jumpers had yet needed a second pair of jeans.

I was very calm, my mind almost blank as I looked down and watched tiny cars and a lone cyclist with a load on his bike, make progress on the tiny strip road to the left.

Tiny-hand Girl continued, talking me through the actual jump, leading me to the ledge and attaching the rope to the clasps on my body. She ended by telling me, “I’ll count you down, ‘3, 2, 1, then you’ll jump!’ I nodded. But that apparently was not good enough. You have to actually speak so the instructors know that you know what you’re about to do. So at her prompting I said “Yes, I’m ready.”

3, 2, 1… Jump!

She started again, “3, 2….” but I suddenly realised what I was about to do and I panicked. “Okay, wait!” popped out of my mouth without my meaning to speak. “I’m not ready.” I looked down, seeing the toes of my left shoe just peeking over the ledge into nothing. And for the first time I really felt afraid.

My instructor very calmly stepped in with, “Look at me. Breeeeathe.” And she guided my eyes away from my feet to the vastness that lay before me, pointing out Maponya Mall in the distance and all the houses around.

Fortunately I was able to quickly get my breathing under control and tell her once again that I was indeed ready. “3, 2, 1…” I took a deep breath and jumped.

These were my thoughts in those first few seconds after leaping into the bungee swing:

1. …. (blank)
2. That wind is loud in my ears.
3. I hope my hair-band doesn’t get pulled off my head at this speed
4. I’d better grip my toes in my sneakers - I know people’s feet shrink when they’re in shock.
5. If I just hold this rope tighter, I know I’ll live…

I’m not sure how long it was before I realised that the frightened hyperventilating wail I was hearing all the while was actually coming from me…

After what seemed like half an hour in free-fall, I finally felt the rope I had in a death-grip snag as it was fully extended and I’d stopped falling. It took me 2 seconds to realise that I was going to live. That’s when the relief flooded in. Then an amazing sense of trust and calm as I let go of my rope, closed my eyes and swung, first closer to one tower then towards the other.  I heard my friend from far above shouting to me to say something. She later explained that the sudden silence and the way my body was hanging, they’d all thought I’d fainted.

About a minute later the guys on the ground started to gently lower me to earth. I was again calm, although a little shy at having wailed in quite that way.

This Is To Certify That… Risked Life & Limb…In a Death-Defying Leap

Then the photographer brought me my certificate to prove I had indeed ‘risked life and limb’ and my CD with photos. The pretty admin girls asked me if I’d do it again and high-fived me when I said I would.

I think I must have blanked out the magnitude of what I’d just done. I only fully felt it once I got home and saw the pictures, some of which you see here. In retrospect I’m always amazed that I actually willingly leapt off a 100 metre high ledge and lived to tell the tale.

On the way back home, the Frenchman - still driving - started to get cocky, asking, “Is this a real township? This is not dangerous!” We laughingly promised to take him to Alexandra next time; the difference between Soweto and Alexandra being a very fundamental one - Soweto was planned. Alexandra - in it’s current state - kind of happened…

More blogs by Nqobani Khumalo | CitySearch articles on Soweto | Back to Say What Blogs

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Orlando Towers Bungee facts and interesting info:

• 

  The towers were part of the now-defunct Orlando Power Station, which, although situated in Soweto, was used to generate electricity for the white population in Johannesburg’s Northern Suburbs during the apartheid era.

• The towers are 100 metres high
• The weight-range for jumpers is between 35 and 130kg - or ‘by prior arrangement.’
• Anyone under 18 needs the consent of a guardian to jump or swing
• I paid just under R600 for both the bungee swing and my disk of photographs - get full price-list from www.orlandotowers.co.za
• Spectators to the top of the tower pay R60.
• Although individual jumpers can just rock up on the day, groups of more than 6 are requested to call and arrange their jumps in advance.
• The Orlando Towers are believed to be the largest mural in South Africa. Depicted on one tower are representations of life in Soweto, while the other has FNB (First National Bank) logo and colours. This is because FNB rented the towers in 2002 for advertising space then later dedicated one tower for the giant mural featuring famous as well as everyday Sowetans. (Nelson Mandela and singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka appear on the tower.)

Learn more about Soweto, Alexandra or go to the Orlando Towers Bungee, Jump & Abseiling site.

More blogs by Nqobani Khumalo.