NOAH: I flew out to South Africa
on Friday morning. 14 hours later, I landed
in my hometown, Johannesburg. And the moment
I got off the plane, I felt something,
a voice inside reminding me
of what I had forgotten. So, this is a road
I used to drive on pretty much
my entire young life. Because of apartheid, uh, black people had to live
in certain areas, and then white people
had to live in other areas. But white people like
how the black people cook, so they need them
to come to their houses, so there were roads
that connected the areas. And this was one of those roads.
All the taxis, all the buses, all the transport
that shipped the people between Soweto and Johannesburg,
this is it. (horn honks) (shouts in foreign language) That's what we do
in South Africa. We... we don't have road rage. We have road joy. We just smile at each other, -and we-we honk.
-(horn honks) It was very confusing to me
when I first got to New York. I thought everyone
was my friend. They were not. So, we're heading
to my grandmother's house now. Uh, I told her we're on the way, but that doesn't mean
she'll be there, so, um... You never know. You might meet my grandmother.
You might not. (speaking foreign language) (horn honking) So, welcome to Soweto. This is where I grew up. This is where
everything goes down. Uh, and yes,
we walk in the streets. We played in the streets.
This was the playground. This is where you hung out
with your friends. This is where
everything went down. -(shouting)
-(speaking foreign language) And your neighbors scream
when you walk by. It's what we all do. What's amazing about this place
is that nothing's changed-- in a good way. It's like a museum,
that's what it is. And we're here
at my grandmother's house. Welcome to it. This is where I grew up. This wall was a lot taller
when I was younger, but, uh, let's see
if she's here. So, this is where I grew up. This was the driveway. ♪ ♪ We kick it off
with the driveway. This is where we used to want
to park our cars. We didn't have any cars,
but we still built driveways, because that's what life
is all about: ambition. (cheering) I'll show you some
of the security features that I installed in the house. We've got what's known -as an intruder defense
mechanism system of glass. -Wow! Every single one
of these bottles, I drank what was inside. Balling. This is where the magic happens. (air horn blaring) Anybody can have a toilet
inside the house, but it takes a real baller to have a toilet
outside the house. Now, if you guys will excuse me, I'm about to make
some magic happen. MTV Cribs, your boy. Oh, wait, there's no
toilet paper. Hold on. ♪ ♪ First things first, whenever you come
into an African person's house, you greet. So the first thing
I'm gonna do is greet. Gogo. Gogo. -(speaks foreign language)
-Hello, Gogo. (speaking foreign language) How are you, Gogo? Can-can we come in? I've got... I've got some camera people,
Gogo. Are we fine to come in? If you say no, it's fine.
I don't mind. Okay, okay. Gogo, um, I want you-- -I want to welcome you
to my show. -Mm-hmm. And I want to introduce you
to some of my friends -and my viewers.
-Mm. I've brought them
to South Africa to show them what it's like. So they said,
because I'm coming, they want to meet you and they want me to ask you
questions about my life. I remember. Mm. Mm. (laughing) How old are you now, 91? When you get to 91,
now you count months. -We're here because the-the
concert at FNB Stadium -Mm. is celebrating 100 years of Nelson Mandela. -Madiba.
-Ah. What was the first thing you
remember about Nelson Mandela? Wow. Because people had not seen
a black man who was an attorney. Wow. Mm. Mm. For young people, it's very hard
for them to understand -how scary it was
to be a black person -(whistles) living in South Africa
during that time. But everybody was scared
of the police. Ah. Mm... (speaks foreign language) -"Dress up. Let's go."
-Yeah. When you see white guys
like this, do they remind you
of those police? That's what you remind
my grandmother. I hope you're happy, bringing memories
of Flying Squad into my house. There are some people
who say now, because some people
don't have jobs and because it's tough
in South Africa, it would be better
to go back to apartheid. Why not? Ah. (whistles) (speaking foreign language) "Do you know what it's like
to dig for potatoes with your hands?" Ah. (speaks foreign language) Wow. -You're digging for potatoes
with your hands. -Mm. And if somebody dies
from exhaustion next to you, you dig a hole,
you put them in that hole, -and then you carry on digging
those potatoes. -(whistles) What-what was my contribution? How-- Was-was I fighting
apartheid? Not knowing? Ah. But I-I told them that I was
an apartheid hero, Gogo. -I wasn't?
-(giggling) Ah. Why did I give you
a tough time, Gogo? So, if I was playing
in the street, the police would have
arrested me? So they thought I was white? "Yeah. Oh! Oh, no!" The kids ran away from me? But why did they run away...?
What? -And allowed to do...
-So for them... for them, this was white? Wow. -I feel so special now, Gogo.
-Huh. To know there was a time
that I was white. (both laugh) How old was I
when this was happening, Gogo? -NOAH: Three years old.
-Mm-hmm. -I was a very good-looking baby,
I'm sure. -(whistles) Yeah? But mostly good-looking. Yeah. I'm sure, Gogo. When I was here with you, what
did you do when I was naughty? (Noah laughs) Who was naughtier, Gogo--
me or my mom? Oh. You know how Mom is. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Must always go up. Yeah! Mm. So she was not only
a black person in a job black people
weren't supposed to be in, but she was a manager
of white people. How-how...?
But how did they allow that? And now I'm also
a manager of white people, Gogo. -Yeah.
-Unbelievable. -It comes from my mother, Gogo.
-(gasps) Do you know I'm a manager
of white people? I'm-I'm telling you, Gogo. There are white people
who work for me. (Noah laughs) Gogo, have you ever... have you
ever watched The Daily Show? (speaking foreign language) (Noah laughs, Gogo continues
speaking foreign language) My gran said
she doesn't watch my show because sometimes
the electricity cuts out, which is a very plausible excuse and a nice way
to let your grandson down. (Noah laughs) -Mm.
-Mm. No, I-I hear you, Gogo.
This is... I didn't expect that answer.
It's a good answer, Gogo. So I must make sure that you have a generator
so you can watch my show. -Okay.
-(speaking foreign language) -Who fits the generator?
-Ah. Okay, so I must get someone
to fit the generator, also. -Okay.
-(speaking in foreign language) Oh, and then I must also
fix the... the-the cable. Okay. -Mm.
-Hey. I feel like I've been tricked
into doing a lot of things for you to watch my TV show,
Gogo. (both laugh) (speaking foreign language) Oh, wow. Thank... thank you
for having us, Gogo, and thank you for letting me
bring these cameras. And thank you for sharing
these stories with my friends. And thank you for being amazing. I've brought too many friends,
Gogo. You guys must leave now.
Absolutely priceless.
what a great episode. His grandmother is so cute
One of his best interviews.
For whatever it is worth, I pretty much predicted this.