Ntinitili, or Jimmy as his friends and clients call him, is the founder of a successful tour operator company called Face to Face tours. He was the first black tour operator to run tours in the historic township and is now a true Sowetan success story. He has played tour guide to everyone from boxing champion Evander Holyfield to the staff of former US president Bill Clinton. Today, the bulk of his clients are tourists from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. What Jimmy offers is not a run-of-the-mill guided trail of purpose-built attractions and museums that are staples of other Soweto tours. Ntintili's tours are an unscripted, spontaneous and personal experience. They are injected with a brutal honesty that doesn't always portray the happing ending that other tours tend to show.

Trailing the guide around Soweto, tourists realize that Jimmy is more than a tour guide. He is a comedian, a storyteller and an unofficial small business adviser. Ntintili educates foreigners about Soweto and educates the Sowetans he encounters along the way about running their businesses and improving their lives in general. He gets away with this multitasking with his charm and likeability. He puts both his clients and Sowetans at ease, and bridges the often awkward gap between rich tourists and poor locals by smiling, joking and relating to both parties.

During the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Ntintili and other tour operators led delegates and journalists around Soweto. Attractions in the township that delegates saw included sites like Winnie Mandela's house; Vilikazi Street, former home of Nobel laureates Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu; and the Hector Petersen museum and memorial. Though Jimmy also takes his guests to these famous locations, he also makes stops--often at random--to ordinary places to illustrate the real lives and real problems of Sowetans.

On a recent private tour of Soweto with Ntintili, the guide talked about the shoddy spruce-up by the government in Soweto prior to the summit and the failure of the WSSD to stimulate any viable tourism or economy in the township. "Do you see that pile of garbage there?" Ntinitili asked rhetorically. "It was not there a week ago when the delegates were in town." Later, a few kilometers away, Jimmy pointed a huge billboard with a WSSD advertisement on it and turned my attention to what was happening under it. Two women were single-handedly collecting heaving mounds of garbage and placing them into overflowing receptacles.

What Jimmy was illustrating is that there was great hope in the township for economic stimulation and increased tourism that would stem from the summit. But after all the delegates left, Soweto was left neglected once again. The point was further illustrated when Jimmy pointed out rows of saplings that were planted hurriedly before the summit. Several of these saplings had already bent over due to post-summit neglect from the government.

Though Ntintili was quick enough to highlight the problems of modern-day Soweto, he was also quick to insist that Sowetans, though neglected by officials, should avoid feeling sorry for themselves. It is self-pity, he believes, that is slowing down progress in the township, not just the government.

"I realize now that I was part of the problem," Jimmy said, emphasizing that the only way to improve the situation is by improving oneself. And that is exactly what drove Jimmy to New York several years ago, when he studied at the Culinary Institute of America. He studied culinary arts and hospitality and then traveled the world. But Ntintili, who believes that people should accept where they come from and strive to improve those places, returned to his native South Africa where he felt it was necessary to implement a culture of hospitality and service in his native Soweto.

The way Jimmy shares his worldly knowledge with native Sowetans is what makes Jimmy's Soweto tours unique. While in the middle of talking and driving, Jimmy spontaneously slowed his car down and rolled the window down to talk to three young men standing around a street corner, washing a car. "Are you running a car wash?" he asked them. They replied yes. Ntintili emerged from his car and began to chat with one of the men. Before I knew it, he was giving them business tips like creating an eye-catching business sign, spicing up the name of their business, and selling coffees and refreshments to customers to consume while they wait for their vehicles.

Though this advice was basic, it was greatly appreciated by the young men, who never received such simple guidance. Later into the tour, Jimmy made another unexpected pit stop. This time, he took me to a struggling restaurant called Sakhumzi located on Vilikazi Street. The restaurant's owner, a young man named Sakhi, was happy to see Jimmy come in, and was eager to ask the expert many questions. He questioned why his restaurant never saw an increase of business during and after the summit. He began complaining and became frustrated. Ntintili doled out very basic and heartfelt advice to the young restauranteur. "Run a restaurant that locals want to eat in, not that is for tourists," he advised. He told Sakhi that if tourists see a place that is filled up with locals, the tourists will be more tempted to check it out. He maintained that the only way to improve Soweto would be for locals to better their own lives first and not to rely on tourism. This would only occur if Sowetans stop complaining and giving up and take positive action.

Business aside, Jimmy also wants to show tourists some of the gravest dangers in the township. Driving by one of Soweto's shantytowns, where shanty huts were created from old shipping cargo containers, Ntintili pointed out the frequency with which we saw young, pre-to-early teenage girls with their own children. He also pointed out the large numbers of young kids running around the makeshift settlements. This is one of the biggest problems facing the township, according to Jimmy: People are making too many babies.

Ntintili slowed down when he saw a young girl in a school uniform to prove his point. He spoke to the girl in her native language and asked how old she was. She said she was 12. He then asked her if she was pregnant. She replied that she wasn't. He then asked her whether she would want to have a baby now. She shrugged her shoulders and giggled. Jimmy advised her bluntly not to have a child now because she is too young. She nodded her head, but continued to giggle, as if what he said was ridiculous or strange. After Jimmy's car pulled away, the girl continued to play with the young children of her sister, who looked no older than 14.

Though there were many highlights of Jimmy's personalized tour--like a visit to his mother's house--the most striking features were these impromptu business consultations or teen counseling sessions. Jimmy was successful in illustrating the problems facing Soweto and hindering its development by supplementing tourist sites with human interaction. As one of Jimmy's tourists, I finished the tour wondering if the situation in Soweto would improve anytime soon. But I remembered the comments of the young restaurant owner Sakhi. "There is only one of you, Jimmy. We need more of you to help us succeed." If Jimmy succeeds to convey his message that one must better onself first, and then help one's community, then maybe things can change.

"Continue what you have learned; bring it here, instil it," said Ntintili passionately about his native township and country. "Accept that this is the country where you were born and let's make the best of it."With inspirational words like these, maybe Thabo Mbeki should start worrying about his job.