Soweto
The
establishment of
Soweto is, like
Johannesburg,
linked directly
to the discovery
of Gold in 1885.
Thousands of
people from
around the world
and South Africa
flocked to the
new town to seek
their fortunes
or to offer
their labour.
Within 4 years
Johannesburg was
the second
largest city.
More than half
the population
was black, most
living in multi
racial shanty
towns near the
gold mines in
the centre of
the town. As the
gold mining
industry
developed, so
did the need for
labour increase.
Migrant labour
was started and
most of these
workers lived in
mine compounds.
However other
workers had to
find their own
accommodation
often in
appalling
conditions.
The first
residents of
what is now
known as Soweto
were located
into the area
called
Klipspriut in
1905 following
their relocation
from
“Coolietown” in
the centre of
Johannesburg as
a result of an
outbreak of
bubonic plague.
The Johannesburg
City Council
took the
opportunity to
establish
racially
segregated
residential
areas. Some
residents were
to be relocated
to Alexandra
township (near
the present day
Sandton). This
group comprised
black, Indian
and coloured
families and
they received
freehold title
to their land
(this was
subsequently
reversed by the
Apartheid
Government).
Only black
families were
located into
Klipspruit and
the housing was
on a rental
basis.
Klipspruit was
subsequently
renamed Pimville.
During the
1930’s the
demand for
housing for the
large numbers of
black people who
had moved into
Johannesburg
grew to such an
extent that new
housing was
built in an area
known as
Orlando, named
after the first
administrator
Edwin Orlando
Leaky.
In the 1940’s a
controversial
character James
Mpanza led the
first land
invasion and
some 20000
squatters
occupied land
near Orlando.
James Mpanza is
known as the
“Father of
Soweto”.
In 1959 the
residents of
Sophiatown were
forcibly removed
to Soweto and
occupied the
area known as
Meadowlands. Sir
Earnest
Oppenheimer, the
first chairman
of the Anglo
American
Corporation, was
appalled by the
housing shortage
and was
instrumental in
arranging a loan
for the
construction of
additional
housing and this
is commemorated
by the
Oppenheimer
Tower in
Jabulani.
Current status
of Soweto.
Soweto falls
within the
municipality of
the Johannesburg
Metro Council in
the province of
Gauteng which
appropriately
means place of
Gold.
The original
rental houses
have now been
sold to the
tenants who
received a
subsidy from the
government to
cover the cost
of the houses.
Private sector
housing was
developed from
the 1980’s
funded by the
various banks.
Freehold title
is available to
the properties.
Services are
provided by the
Johannesburg
Metro council
and electricity
by Escom.
Origins of the
name.
Soweto obtained
its name from
the first two
letters of South
Western Township
which was the
original
description of
the area.
“Soweto is a
symbol of the
New South
Africa, caught
between old
squatter misery
and new
prosperity,
squalor and an
upbeat
lifestyle, it’s
a vibrant city
which still
openly bears the
scars of the
Apartheid past
and yet shows
what’s possible
in the New South
Africa”