Soweto History Pdf

[Eustolia Pennycuff]

Fordecades, the whites-only government of South Africa had brutally enforced a policy of racial segregation known as apartheid -- and just as ruthlessly crushed any opposition. By the 1970s, an entire generation of anti-apartheid fighters had been silenced. Many were killed. Others, like Nelson Mandela, were in prison or in exile.

But on June 16, 1976, students in Soweto township outside Johannesburg decided to hold a protest against a government policy mandating that all classes be taught in Afrikaans, the language of South African whites.

Government Newsreel: Cape Town glowed in warm, sunny weather today for one of its most colorful ceremonies, the opening of Parliament. It was opened at noon by the president, Mr. Fouche.

Strini Moodley: The reaction of the older generation to us was, "Are you guys mad? Those guys are gonna come blow you away. They're gonna kill you." And we said, "No, first thing is you stand up and speak your mind as any normal human being has the right to do."

Bongi Mkhabela: As of today, every subject would be taught in Afrikaans. And the teacher walks in, history becomes geskiedenis. And we were all like, "What are you talking about?" And our teacher was standing there trying very hard; he has an Afrikaans dictionary on the one hand, and he was trying to translate. And in complete exasperation, the teacher says, "You know what, I don't know." And that didn't work, whole classes failed. When they did that, they actually mobilized the entire school generation because it represented everything that the oppressors stood for. This was a battle we had to fight.

Announcement: Soweto, a complex of black townships on the southwest corner of Johannesburg, with an estimated population of one-and-one-quarter million. Every day, Sowetans pour into white homes, offices and factories in Johannesburg, leaving the township to the children and the teenagers.

Murphy Morobi: Our school started at 8 a.m., as the tradition has had it, with the singing of the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come." But on this day, instead of the Lord's Prayer, we sang "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika," "God Bless Africa," which was our signal tune to march out of the school premises. And we all joined at the time.

Newscast: At 8:15 in the morning, and precisely according to plan, students simultaneously marched out of five schools in Soweto, intending to protest the Afrikaans issue in a mass meeting at the Orlando Football Stadium.

Bongi Mkhabela: We had hundreds, probably thousands, of schoolkids. And we thought we knew everything there is to know about managing protests. The first thing we worried about was that everyone must be accounted for at all times. So we then had chains of five kids and make sure you are holding somebody's hand all the time. And if you are not holding somebody's hand, get worried, because where is your partner?

Nthato Motlana: Then it became really a torrent, a sea of young, black faces. Masses of students, I mean, we'd never seen such a demonstration in many, many years. And at that point, the police tried to stop the march from going on to Orlando Stadium.

Bongi Mkhabela: I mean, this is a group of kids, kids with shining black shoes and little white socks and teeny little tunics. And they are singing freedom songs, holding one another. We actually looked cute. It's unbelievable to think that anyone could have stood firm on their feet and actually shot into that crowd.

Bongi Mkhabela: We had hundreds of schoolkids running helter-skelter, running all over the place. We had planned for water pipes; we had planned for maybe rubber bullets. We had not planned or thought that it's possible that people were actually going to be killed on that day.

Newscast: The teeming black township of Soweto has finally erupted into the violence that whites have been fearing for years. At least two of the dead fell when police opened fire on a crowd.

Murphy Morobi: I mean having grown up in the township, you know, you heard gunshots. But the sounds of bullets flying, you know, you standing up on top of an abandoned car and suddenly you hear bullets thudding on the side, you know. Not knowing where the next one is going to come from. You just get a sense of how fleeting life can be, and you feel, you know, how are you going to deal with it tomorrow?

Johnny Makatini: It was like a country at war. And I'll never forget, listening to my radio as the demonstrations were spreading like a prairie fire, and it occurred to me that the regime that we thought was powerful seemed to be terribly disorganized, panicking.

Thandi Modise: When you see your friends being shot at for just walking in the street, it does something to you. And therefore, you would look around. What are the alternatives? Do I become like my mother, forever under the yoke of apartheid? The alternative was for me to not be like my mom, great as she was, but to go and fight.

Bongi Mkhabela: It was clear in all of us kids, at that time, that peaceful struggle, negotiated settlements were totally out of the question. Many of the young people who were on that march left South Africa for armed forces and for an armed struggle.

Murphy Morobi: Many years later, after I went to jail, you know, for the events of the 16th of June, there was always at the back of my mind, you know, the images of Soweto. The sense of fear there in everyone's eyes, and you can even still smell the tear gas when you just think about it. It is something that you would never want to wish on any society. In South Africa, we carried with us the scars of June 16, 1976.

The Soweto uprising was the beginning of a new era in South Africa. But it would take almost two decades before apartheid finally fell. In 1994, in the country's first truly democratic election, Nelson Mandela became president of a new South Africa.

South of Johannesburg is Soweto, a city developed as a township for black people under the apartheid system. Most of the struggle against apartheid was fought in and from Soweto. The name Soweto is an acronym, made up - in apartheid days - from the first letters of the words south western township.

Soweto is inhabited by over two million people, with homes ranging from extravagant mansions to makeshift shacks. Soweto is a city of enterprise and cultural interaction. It is a popular tourist destination with sites such as Kliptown (where the Freedom Charter was drawn up), the home of former President Nelson Mandela, the Hector Petersen Memorial site, restaurants and shopping malls. It boasts one of the largest hospitals on the continent and the only African-owned private clinic (see Soweto Map).

Soweto is a sprawling township, or more accurately, a cluster of townships on the south-western flank of Johannesburg. Soweto was created in the 1930s, with Orlando the first township established. In the 1950s, more black people were relocated there from 'black spots' in the inner city - black neighbourhoods which the apartheid government had reserved for whites.

Soweto's growth was phenomenal - but unplanned. Despite government attempts to stop the influx of black workers to the cities, waves of migrant workers moved from the countryside and neighbouring countries to look for employment in the city of gold. With a population of over 2 million, the township is the biggest black urban settlement in Africa with a rich political history. Soweto was the centre of political campaigns aimed at the overthrow of the apartheid state. The 1976 student uprising, also known as the Soweto uprising, started in Soweto and spread to the rest of the country. Many of the sights on the heritage route therefore have political significance.

Sowetans pride themselves on being urbane and streetwise. They look down on the moegoes (country bumpkins) from the rural areas. Most residents here are rooted in the metropolis and are detribalised. Soweto is a melting pot of South African cultures and has developed its own sub-cultures - especially for the young. Afro-American influence runs deep, but is adapted to local conditions. In their speech, dress and gait, Sowetans exude a sense of cosmopolitan sophistication. Sowetans have evolved a local lingo, tsotsitaal, an eclectic mix of several local languages, Afrikaans and street slang, constantly evolving and spoken mainly by the young.

From the foot bridge of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the largest on the continent, one can get a panoramic view of Soweto. In Diepkloof, you will find many grey, four-roomed dwellings, cynically called 'matchbox houses' by locals. These are the original dwellings constructed to accommodate the first black migrants to the cities who had come in search of greener pastures. Although they are small, locals take pride in their houses and many take efforts to make them habitable and even homely. In contrast to these symbols of poverty, there are various 'extensions' that have been established to accommodate the relatively affluent. One example is Diepkloof Extension, home to the emerging black middle class. The suburb boasts beautiful houses, the roads are in good condition, there are playgrounds and schools.

Other attractive sights are residences of famous anti-apartheid activists. Just a few kilometres drive from Diepkloof, you arrive at Orlando, the first township of Soweto. Here, you can visit Nelson Mandela's first house (left) which is a popular tourist attraction. Mandela stayed here before he was imprisoned in 1961. Security guards will not let you in, but you can see the modest house clearly enough from the street. You can also have a glimpse of the mansion belonging to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in an affluent part of Orlando West. Archbishop Desmond Tutu's house, the Sisulu residence and the Hector Pieterson memorial museum are in the same neighbourhood. The recently renovated museum offers a detailed account of the events of 1976, including visuals and eye-witness accounts.

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