73-579: Soweto ( / s ə ˈ w ɛ t oʊ , - ˈ w eɪ t -, - ˈ w iː t -/ ) is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng , South Africa , bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for So uth We stern To wnships . Formerly a separate municipality, it is now incorporated in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and
146-577: A few smaller areas where prosperous Sowetans have built houses that are similar in stature to those in more affluent suburbs. Many people who still live in matchbox houses have improved and expanded their homes, and the City Council has enabled the planting of more trees and the improving of parks and green spaces in the area. Hostels are another prominent physical feature of Soweto. Originally built to house male migrant workers, many have been improved as dwellings for couples and families. In 1996,
219-441: A new emergency camp. It was called Moroka. 10,000 sites were made available immediately. Moroka became Johannesburg's worst slum area. Residents erected their shanties on plots measuring six metres by six metres. There were only communal bucket-system toilets and very few taps. The camps were meant to be used for a maximum of five years, but when they were eventually demolished in 1955, Moroka and Jabavu housed 89,000 people. In 1941,
292-449: A plot of land that are rented out by the land owner for additional income. Plots of land designed for single-family houses have been turned into plots, that, on average hold six families instead of one. These structures are illegally built in violation of planning and building codes and strain the infrastructure. Governments are loath to act on backyard dwellings, as doing so would result in large-scale displacement of people. A 2001 study of
365-577: A popular form of transport. In 2000 it was estimated that around 2000 minibus taxis operated from the Baragwanath taxi rank alone. A Bus rapid transit system, Rea Vaya , provides transport for around 16 000 commuters daily. PUTCO has for many years provided bus commuter services to Soweto residents. The area is mostly composed of old "matchbox" houses, or four-room houses built by the government, that were built to provide cheap accommodation for black workers during apartheid . However, there are
438-512: A problem in townships and children as young as 12 or 13 get initiated into local gangs. Some see violence and gangs as a way of life and a part of their culture. The weapon of choice for most is a gun and with easy accessibility anyone is able to get one. It is estimated that out of the 14 million guns in circulation, in South Africa, only four million are registered and licensed to legal gun owners. Largest townships in South Africa at
511-410: A rapid period of urbanisation as the colour bar was relaxed due to the war. Neither employers nor the government built new accommodations or homes for the influx of new residents. This led to overcrowding, poor living conditions, thus, contributing to high levels of crime and violence . High rents and overcrowding led to land invasions and the growth of shack settlements, which were largely ignored by
584-515: A so-called cordon sanitaire (or sanitary corridor) which was usually a river, railway track, industrial area or highway. This was carried out using the infamous Urban Areas Act of 1923. William Carr, chair of non-European affairs, initiated the naming of Soweto in 1949. He called for a competition to give a collective name to townships dotted around the South-west of Johannesburg. People responded to this competition with great enthusiasm. Among
657-472: A squatters camp. The city council's resistance crumbled. After feverish consultations with the relevant government department, it was agreed that an emergency camp, which could house 991 families, be erected. It was to be called Central Western Jabavu. The next wave of land invasions took place in September 1946. Some 30,000 squatters congregated west of Orlando. Early the next year, the city council proclaimed
730-585: A thirty-year leasehold tenure. Tenants could erect their own dwellings in conformity with approved plans. In June 1955, Kliptown was the home of an unprecedented Congress of the People , which adopted the Freedom Charter . From the onset, the Apartheid government purposed Soweto to house the bulk of the labour force which was needed by Johannesburg (1998:58). Africans used to live in areas surrounding
803-545: A township (in the legal sense) is established and then the adjoining townships, with the same name as the original township, and with a numbered "Extension" suffix are later established. For example, the Johannesburg suburb of Bryanston has an extension called Bryanston Extension 3 . In traditionally or historically white areas, the term "suburb" is used for legally-defined residential townships in everyday conversation. A suburb's boundaries are often regarded as being
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#1732765206701876-418: Is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng , South Africa , located about 17 km south-west of Johannesburg . Kliptown is the oldest residential district of Soweto, and was first laid out in 1891 on land which formed part of Klipspruit farm. The farm was named after the klipspruit (rocky stream) that runs nearby. From 1903 the area was home to informal settlements (squatter camps), and
949-508: Is informal and unregulated by the government. This results in a lack of access to basic services such as sewerage, electricity, roads, and clean water, which adversely affects the residents' quality of life. Sewerage, water, and electrical infrastructure within townships are often in need of repair, resulting in a lack of sanitation due to problems with accessibility and availability. Electricity, water, and sewerage are managed by different government departments, resulting in inefficiencies in
1022-431: Is mainly attributable to higher and more rapid drop-out rates among the poor, rather than to a lack of initial access to schooling. The formerly white schools uniformly produce better results as their governing bodies are able to raise substantial private funds. These funds are used to get resources that are usually inaccessible for the rural and township schools which survive on the commitment of their teachers. Gangs are
1095-537: Is one of the suburbs of Johannesburg . George Harrison and George Walker are today credited as the men who discovered an outcrop of the Main Reef of gold on the farm Langlaagte in February 1886. The fledgling town of Johannesburg was laid out on a triangular wedge of "uitvalgrond" (area excluded when the farms were surveyed) named Randjeslaagte, situated between the farms Doornfontein to the east, Braamfontein to
1168-476: The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality awarded tenders to Conrad Penny and his company Penny Brothers Brokers & Valuers (Pty) Ltd. for the valuation of the whole of Soweto (which at the time consisted of over 325,000 properties) for rating and taxing purpose. This was the single largest valuation ever undertaken in Africa. Being part of the urban agglomerations of Gauteng , Soweto shares much of
1241-541: The Native Resettlement Act , which permitted the government to remove Blacks from suburbs like Sophiatown, Martindale, Newclare and Western Native Township. Between 1956 and 1960, they built 23,695 houses in Meadowlands and Diepkloof to accommodate the evicted persons. By 1960, the removals were more-or-less complete. In 1959, the city council launched a competition to find a collective name for all
1314-533: The first non-racial elections were held in April 1994. In 2010, South Africa's oldest township hosted the FIFA World Cup Final and the attention of more than a billion soccer spectators from all over the world was focused on Soweto. In April 1904, there was a bubonic plague scare in the shanty town area of Brickfields. The town council decided to condemn the area and burn it down. Beforehand, most of
1387-524: The Africans living there were moved far out of town to the farm Klipspruit (later called Pimville), south-west of Johannesburg, where the council had erected iron barracks and a few triangular hutments. The rest of them had to build their own shacks. The fire brigade then set the 1600 shacks and shops in Brickfields alight. Thereafter, the area was redeveloped as Newtown. Pimville was next to Kliptown ,
1460-680: The Afrikaans word meaning separateness. They thought they could separate the various racial groups in South Africa. In those days, the Johannesburg City Council did not support the National Party. The city council and the central government competed to control the Black townships of Johannesburg. Following the election of the new government, some 7,000 new houses were built in the first two or three years, but very little
1533-595: The Black Affairs Administration Act, No. 45 of 1971. In terms of this Act, the central government appointed the West Rand Administration Board to take over the powers and obligations of the Johannesburg City Council in respect of Soweto. As chairman of the board it appointed Manie Mulder, a political appointment of a person who had no experience of the administration of native affairs. Manie Mulder's most famous quote
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#17327652067011606-508: The Black Local Authorities Act. Previously, the townships were governed by the Johannesburg council, but from the 1970s, the state took control. Black African councilors were not provided by the apartheid state with the finances to address housing and infrastructural problems. Township residents opposed the black councilors as puppet collaborators who personally benefited financially from an oppressive regime. Resistance
1679-496: The Black section of Johannesburg Hospital (known as Non-European Hospital or NEH) was transferred to Baragwanath Hospital . In 1997, the facility was renamed Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital after former General Secretary of the South African Communist Party , Chris Hani . The National Party won the general election of 1948 and formed a new government. The party's policy was called apartheid,
1752-563: The British Government built a military hospital next to the road between Johannesburg and Potchefstroom . The place was to be at the 8th milestone near the old Wayside Inn, owned by a Cornishman called John Albert Baragwanath. It was called The Imperial Military Hospital, Baragwanath . After the war, the Transvaal Provincial Administration bought the hospital for £1 million. On 1 April 1948,
1825-561: The South African government's privatization drives will worsen the situation. Research showed that 62% of residents in Orlando East and Pimville were unemployed or pensioners. There have been signs recently indicating economic improvement. The Johannesburg City Council began to provide more street lights and to pave roads. Private initiatives to tap Sowetans' combined spending power of R4.3 billion were also planned, including
1898-668: The Soweto Highway, links Soweto with central Johannesburg via Nasrec and Booysens . This road is multi lane, passes next to Soccer City in Nasrec and has dedicated taxiway lanes from Soweto eastwards to Booysens and Johannesburg Central. A major thoroughfare through the south-eastern part of Soweto ( Eldorado Park ) is the R553 Golden Highway . It provides access to the N1 , N12 and M1 highways. Minibus taxis are
1971-514: The Soweto entrepreneurship conference, which looked for ways to help turn the economic tide in townships. SOWETO'S entrepreneurs gathered at the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus on 13 and 14 April to engage with experts from all over the globe about how to enhance skills and value-add in township economies. The restrictions on economic activities were lifted in 1977, spurring the growth of
2044-475: The absence of substantial coordination at all stages of the project planning, budgeting, and implementation cycle. The sewer systems within townships are poorly planned and constructed. The population of townships typically grows faster than what the infrastructure was planned for, causing overloads that result in blockages, surges, and overflows. There often are only a limited number of public toilets that are overused, abused, and quickly become health hazards for
2117-627: The affairs of the Advisory Board for Orlando. Towards the end of World War II, there was an acute shortage of housing for Blacks in Johannesburg. By the end of 1943, the Sofasonke Party advised its members to put up their own squatters' shacks on municipal property. On Saturday 25 March 1944, the squat began. Hundreds of homeless people from Orlando and elsewhere joined Mpanza in marching to a vacant lot in Orlando West and starting
2190-773: The area now contains a mixture of purpose-built housing and many shacks and other informal homes which form the Chris Hani and Dlamini settlements. In June, 1955, Kliptown was the home of an unprecedented Congress of the People , organised by the African National Congress , the South African Indian Congress , the South African Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People's Congress . This Congress saw
2263-612: The call issued by African National Congress 's 1985 Kabwe congress in Zambia to make South Africa ungovernable . As the state forbade public gatherings, church buildings like Regina Mundi were sometimes used for political gatherings. In 1995, Soweto became part of the Southern Metropolitan Transitional Local Council, and in 2002, was incorporated into the City of Johannesburg. A series of bombings occurred in 2002. They are believed to be
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2336-625: The chairman of the Native Affairs committee, Mr. Edwin Orlando Leake. In the end, some 10,311 houses were built there by the municipality. In addition, it built 4,045 temporary single-room shelters. In about 1934, James Sofasonke Mpanza moved to 957 Pheele Street, Orlando, and lived there for the rest of his life. A year after his arrival in Orlando, he formed his own political party, the Sofasonke Party. He also became very active in
2409-421: The city, so the authorities felt it would be more expedient to concentrate black workers in one district that could be easily controlled (1998:58). The new sub-economic townships took off in 1956, when Tladi, Zondi, Dhlamini, Chiawelo and Senoane were laid out providing 28,888 people with accommodation. Jabulani, Phiri and Naledi followed the next year. Sir Ernest Oppenheimer arranged a loan of £3 million from
2482-415: The communities. Another issue is poor access to maintenance activities, which is caused by a lack of space between houses. Some of the areas on the township peripheries or near the riverbanks do not have access to sanitation facilities because they are not connected to the formal waterborne sewerage system. A consequence of inadequate pumping infrastructure and large populations is that the water pressure in
2555-628: The construction of Protea Mall, Jabulani Mall, and the development of Maponya Mall, an upmarket hotel in Kliptown, and the Orlando Ekhaya entertainment center. Soweto has also become a Centre for nightlife and culture. Well-known artists from Soweto, besides those mentioned above, include: The Soweto Wine Festival was started in 2004. The three-night festival is hosted at the University of Johannesburg 's Soweto Campus on Chris Hani Road in
2628-452: The continuing growth of the townships. Constructing houses in the dried up tributaries is a potential problem in the event of a large storm as the tributary starts to fill up with water again or in case of a backup of sewerage coming into the tributary. The houses built in that area stand the risk of being destroyed by natural occurrences. As the area grows, the tributaries are piped and a number of concrete aprons and gullies are constructed over
2701-442: The declaration and adoption of the Freedom Charter , which set out the aims and aspirations of the opponents of apartheid . In 2005 Kliptown had an unemployment rate of 72%. In that same year Johannesburg City Council announced plans for renewal of the Kliptown area, including a large-scale housing project. American DJ and producer Skrillex released the single "Kliptown Empyrean" in 2020. Inspired by his experience working with
2774-555: The eastern boundary of Soweto. There is efficient road access for many parts of the region along busy highways to Johannesburg and Roodepoort , but commuters are largely reliant on trains and taxis. The N12 (named the Moroka Bypass) forms the southern border of Soweto, separating it from Lenasia . A new section of the N17 has been built, connecting Soweto with Nasrec as a four-lane dual carriageway. The M70 , also known as
2847-451: The first day in Soweto, 21 of whom were black, including the minor Hector Pieterson , as well as two white people, including Melville Edelstein , a lifelong humanitarian. The impact of the Soweto protests reverberated through the country and across the world. In their aftermath, economic and cultural sanctions were introduced from abroad. Political activists left the country to train for guerrilla resistance. Soweto and other townships became
2920-596: The first weekend of September. Organised by the Cape Wine Academy, the festival attracts over 6000 wine enthusiasts, over 100 of South Africa's finest wineries and well over 900 fine wines. Soweto Pride , an annual pride parade, is held in Soweto every year, on the last Saturday of September. The inaugural Pride was in 2004. The parade aims to celebrate black lesbian, queer and trans women plus non-binary people, and offer them space to voice issues affecting them. Township (South Africa) In South Africa ,
2993-411: The government's disinclination to encourage power usage by non-residents. Some townships, such as Alexandra and Diepsloot , are built near rivers, and on flood plains . These areas are extremely dense with only tortuous, narrow access, few communal water points and banks of chemical toilets on the peripheries of the settlements. The settlements are beginning to be built in the old tributaries due to
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3066-645: The government. By 1950, a large portion of the urban black population lived in townships. In 1950, upwards of 100,000 people were living in townships on the Witwatersrand area ; 50,000 people lived in Cato Manor in Durban; and an estimated 150,000 black and coloured people lived in townships in Cape Town . Living conditions in the shack township settlements were poor, but they had some advantage over
3139-574: The levy was used to finance basic services in Black townships. In 1954, the City Council built 5,100 houses in Jabavu and 1,450 in Mofolo. The city council's pride and joy was its economic scheme known as Dube Village. It was intended "primarily for the thoroughly urbanised and economically advanced Native". Stands, varying in size from fifty by hundred feet to forty by 70 feet, were made available on
3212-526: The mining industry, which allowed an additional 14,000 houses to be built. It was decided to divide Soweto into various language groups. Naledi, Mapetla, Tladi, Moletsane and Phiri were for Sotho- and Tswana-speaking people. Chiawelo for Tsonga and Venda. Dlamini Senaoane, Zola, Zondi, Jabulani, Emdeni and White City were for Zulus and Xhosas. The central government was busy with its own agenda. The presence of Blacks with freehold title to land among Johannesburg's White suburbs irked them. In 1954, Parliament passed
3285-600: The name became internationally known. Soweto became the largest Black city in South Africa, but until 1976, its population could have status only as temporary residents, serving as a workforce for Johannesburg. It experienced civil unrest during the Apartheid regime. There were serious riots in 1976, sparked by a ruling that Afrikaans be used in African schools there; the riots were violently suppressed, with 176 striking students killed and more than 1,000 injured. Reforms followed, but riots flared up again in 1985 and continued until
3358-406: The names suggested to the city council was KwaMpanza, meaning Mpanza's place, invoking the name of Mpanza and his role in bringing the plight of Orlando sub tenants to the attention of the city council. The city council settled for the acronym SOWETO (South West Townships). The name Soweto was first used in 1963 and within a short period of time, following the 1976 uprising of students in the township,
3431-554: The oldest Black residential district of Johannesburg and first laid out in 1891, on land which formed part of Klipspruit farm. The future Soweto was to be laid out on Klipspruit and the adjoining farm called Diepkloof . In the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek and the subsequent Transvaal Colony , it was lawful for people of colour to own fixed property. Consequently, the township of Sophiatown was laid out in 1903 and Blacks were encouraged to buy property there. For
3504-603: The other more established options, like hostels, of being cheap and largely unregulated by the apartheid-era South African Police . In 1950, the Group Areas Act was enacted, which empowered the Governor-General to designate land for the sole use of a specific race. Under this law, black people were evicted from properties that were in areas designated as "white only" and forced to move into segregated townships. Separate townships were established for each of
3577-409: The polite term for Africans or Blacks) lawfully employed and resident within the area of their jurisdiction. Pursuant to this Act, the Johannesburg town council formed a Municipal Native Affairs Department in 1927. It bought 1 300 morgen of land on the farm Klipspruit No. 8 and the first houses in what was to become Orlando Location were built there in the latter half of 1930. The township was named after
3650-478: The same as the (legal) township boundaries, along with its numbered extensions, and it usually shares its name with the township (with some notable exceptions, such as the Johannesburg suburb known as Rivonia , which is actually the township of Edenburg with numbered extensions called Rivonia Extensions). Occasionally, formerly independent towns, such as Sandton (which itself consists of numerous suburbs), are referred to as "suburbs". Kliptown Kliptown
3723-494: The same media as the rest of Gauteng province. There are however some media sources dedicated to Soweto itself: Soweto is credited as one of the founding places for Kwaito and Kasi rap, which is a style of hip hop specific to South Africa. This form of music, which combined many elements of house music , American hip-hop, and traditional African music, became a strong force amongst black South Africans. Early Career The experiences of other developing nations were examined at
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#17327652067013796-805: The same reasons, Alexandra, Gauteng was planned for Black ownership in 1912. The subsequent Natives Land Act of 1913 did not change the situation because it did not apply to land situated within municipal boundaries. In 1923, the Parliament of the Union of South Africa passed the Natives (Urban Areas) Act . The purpose of the Act was to provide for improved conditions of residence for natives in urban areas, to control their ingress into such areas and to restrict their access to intoxicating liquor. The Act required local authorities to provide accommodation for Natives (then
3869-471: The smaller towns. The slang term " kasie / kasi ", a popular short version of " lokasie " is also used. Townships sometimes have large informal settlements nearby. During 1900–1950 (roughly), the majority of the black population in the major urban areas lived in hostels or servants' accommodations, these were provided by employers, and the workers were mostly single men. In the period during and following World War II , urban areas of South Africa experienced
3942-533: The stage for violent state repression. Since 1991, this date and the schoolchildren have been commemorated by the International Day of the African Child . In response, the apartheid state started providing electricity to more Soweto homes, yet phased out financial support for building additional housing. Soweto became an independent municipality with elected black councilors in 1983, in line with
4015-536: The stream. The government decided that more money was to be made from issuing brick maker's licences at five shillings per month. The result was that many landless Dutch-speaking burghers (citizens) of the ZAR settled on the property and started making bricks. They also erected their shacks there. Soon, the area was known either Brickfields or Veldschoendorp. Soon other working poor, Coloureds , Indians and Africans also settled there. The government, who sought to differentiate
4088-568: The taxi industry as an alternative to Soweto's inadequate bus and train transport systems. In 1994 Sowetans earned on average almost six and a half times less than their counterparts in wealthier areas of Johannesburg (1994 estimates). Sowetans contribute less than 2% to Johannesburg's rates Some Sowetans remain impoverished, and others live in shanty towns with little or no services. About 85% of Kliptown comprises informal housing. The Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee argues that Soweto's poor are unable to pay for electricity. The committee believes that
4161-701: The terms township and location usually refers to an under-developed , racially segregated urban area, from the late 19th century until the end of apartheid , were reserved for non-whites, namely Black Africans , Coloureds and Indians . Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities. The term township also has a distinct legal meaning in South Africa's system of land title , which carries no racial connotations. Townships for non-whites were also called locations or lokasies in Afrikaans and are often still referred to as such in
4234-480: The terms township, location, and informal settlement are not used pejoratively. However, policymakers are, as in the 1950s, once again using the term ' slums ' in a highly pejorative way. Informal settlements that are normally self established around regulated townships are faced with several social problems. Most often, the residents of informal settlements do not own the land on which their houses are built. In effect, these houses are built illegally. Construction
4307-522: The three designated non-white race groups: black people, Coloureds , and Indians – as per the Population Registration Act, 1950 . Most South African towns and cities have at least one township associated with them. Some old townships have seen rapid development since 1994, with, for instance, wealthy and middle-income areas sprouting in parts of Soweto and Chatsworth . Despite their origins in apartheid South Africa, today
4380-566: The time of the 2011 census: The legal meaning of the term "township" in South Africa differs from the popular usage and has a precise legal meaning without any racial connotations. The term is used in land titles and townships are subdivided into erfs (stands). "Township" can also mean a designated area or district, as part of a place name. For instance "Industrial Township" has been used in reference to an industrial area, e.g. "Westmead Industrial Township", in Pinetown , South Africa. Often
4453-467: The township called Diepsloot near Johannesburg showed that 24% of the residents lived in brick structures, 43% were in shack areas, and 27% were in backyard shacks. Township schools are often overcrowded, and lack adequate infrastructure. There is a high dropout rate among poor youth, particularly around Grade 9. Despite government interventions, education outcomes remain skewed, with township students continuing to under-perform. This skewed distribution
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#17327652067014526-423: The townships is very low. Each section of the townships normally has one pump per section. The water is used for everything from washing clothes to cooking, drinking, bathing, and cleaning the house. Having limited water accessible to each section makes it very hard to meet the daily water needs per household. Illegal electricity connections are all-pervasive in the townships with electrical wires strung along
4599-520: The townships south-west of the city's centre. It was only in 1963 that the city council decided to adopt the name Soweto as the collective name. The name Soweto was officially endorsed by the municipalities' authorities only in 1963 after a special committee had considered various names. The apartheid government's intention was for Soweto to house black people who were working for Johannesburg. Other names considered included "apartheid Townships" and "Verwoerdstad" (Gorodnov 1998:58). In 1971, Parliament passed
4672-472: The townships. In Soweto, popular resistance to apartheid emerged in various forms during the 1980s. Educational and economic boycotts were initiated, and student bodies were organized. Street committees were formed, and civic organizations were established as alternatives to state-imposed structures. One of the most well-known "civics" was Soweto's Committee of Ten , started in 1978 in the offices of The Bantu World newspaper. Such actions were strengthened by
4745-446: The trees leading to power boxes. Although dangerous, every house in the area has a wire coming out of it and every wire is known by their owner in order to fix problems as soon as they arise. Most of the sub-stations are very unsecured to begin with so having so many additional wires coming from them is very dangerous for the people nearby and the kids playing in the area. The electricity infrastructure has not undergone upgrades because of
4818-513: The tributary into which the communal water points drain. The gullies are then choked with garbage and the tributaries appear to be substantially blocked but this will not hold off the water for very long if a flood comes through. Due to overcrowding, residents choose to build on river banks in hopes of easy access to water and laundry facilities, however, the available water is unsuitable for these purposes due to pollution, and they remain vulnerable to floods. Backyard shacks are additional units on
4891-507: The west and Turffontein to the south. Within a decade of the discovery of gold in Johannesburg, 100,000 people flocked to this part of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek in search of riches. They were of many races and nationalities. In October 1887, the government of the South African Republic (ZAR) bought the south-eastern portion of the farm Braamfontein. There were large quantities of clay, suitable for brickmaking, along
4964-528: The white working class from the black, laid out new suburbs for the Burghers (Whites), Coolies (Indians), Malays (Coloureds) and Black Africans (Africans), but the whole area simply stayed multiracial. Soweto was created in the 1930s when the White government started separating Blacks from Whites, creating black "townships" . Blacks were moved away from Johannesburg, to an area separated from White suburbs by
5037-480: The work of the Boeremag , a right-wing extremist group, damaged buildings and railway lines , and killed one person. In 2022, 15 people were killed in a mass shooting at a bar. Soweto's population is predominantly black and the most common first language is Zulu . Soweto landmarks include: Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as subtropical highland (Cwb). The suburb
5110-639: Was done thereafter. In 1952, there was a breakthrough. Firstly, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research came up with a standard design for low-cost, four-roomed, forty-square-metre houses. In 1951, the Parliament passed the Building Workers Act , which permitted Blacks to be trained as artisans in the building trade. In 1952, it passed the Bantu Services Levy Act, which imposed a levy on employers of African workers and
5183-758: Was given to the Rand Daily Mail in May 1976: "The broad masses of Soweto are perfectly content, perfectly happy. Black-White relationships at present are as healthy as can be. There is no danger whatever of a blow-up in Soweto." Soweto came to the world's attention on 16 June 1976 with the Soweto uprising , when mass protests erupted over the government's policy to enforce education in Afrikaans rather than their native language. Police opened fire in Orlando West on 10,000 students marching from Naledi High School to Orlando Stadium . The rioting continued and 23 people died on
5256-436: Was not historically allowed to create employment centres within the area, so almost all of its residents are commuters to other parts of the city. Metrorail operates commuter trains between Soweto and central Johannesburg . Soweto train stations are at Naledi, Merafe, Inhlazane, Ikwezi, Dube, Phefeni, Phomolong, Mzimhlophe, New Canada, Mlamlankunzi, Orlando, Nancefield, Kliptown, Tshiawelo and Midway. The N1 Highway skirts
5329-479: Was spurred by the exclusion of blacks from the newly formed tricameral Parliament (which did include Whites, Indians and Coloreds). Municipal elections in black, coloured, and Indian areas were subsequently widely boycotted, returning extremely low voting figures for years. Popular resistance to state structures dates back to the Advisory Boards (1950) that co-opted black residents to advise whites who managed
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