SOWETO - A Thriving City

On 11th September we had opportunity to visit Soweto again with friends from Canada. It is always amazing and inspiring to visit this vast city of some four million people on the south west side of Johannesburg. Soweto gets its name from a designation give to it in the Apartheid era - being the short form for 'South Western Townships' - a place where 'non-whites' were resettled involuntarilly and/or forced to live while they worked in the 'white' parts of Johannesburg.

Fortunately those designations no longer apply. From high end living to squatter communities Soweto is a thriving and dynamic place to live. From the largest hospital in the world, Chris Hani Baragwanath (4000 beds), to Freedom Charter square where in 1955 people from all walks of life gathered to create a charter that would eventually be the underpinning of the current constitution, to Maponya Mall (the largest in South Africa) Soweto is rich in history and the shaping of the nation. There are 49 suburbs in Soweto plus 18 informal settlements. It comprises a land area of approx 21 by 19 kilometers. Unfortunately the reality of a system that long ignored black townships in terms of infrastructure means that although there have been significant improvements many areas of Soweto are still not adequately serviced.

With its high unemployment rate, the area has also spawned many gangsters. Since the 1930s, various gangsters, mostly territorial formations of young, barely literate males, out of school and out of work, have come and gone. The extensions built in the 1980s to house the emerging middle class, mostly civil servants, have added colour to the township. Recent years have seen Soweto become a site of massive development projects, including tarring the roads and greening the township, making Soweto a major tourist attraction in the country

As our guide said, "If one doesn't know Soweto one doesn't know South Africa" and "when Soweto sneezes the whole country catches a cold."While this may seem arrogant to those not living in in Soweto it speaks to the incredible impact this vast city has had in the history of South Africa since the establishment of the oldest township - Kliptown in 1904. Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu have both lived here.  Other

prominent figures to have come from Soweto include boxing legend Baby Jake Matlala, diva Yvonne Chaka Chaka and soccer maestro, Jomo Sono. The premier soccer clubs of the Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs, and the Moroko Swallows have all had their birth here.

Learn more at: www.joburg.org.za/soweto