Baragwanath Taxi Rank, Soweto, Johannesburg.
Soweto is the most populated black urban residential area in South Africa with the 2001 Census putting its population at 896 995 Thanks to its proximity to Johannesburg the economic hub of the country it is also the most metropolitan township in the country setting trends in politics fashion music dance and language But the township was from its genesis a product of segregationist planning It was back in 1904 that Klipspruit the oldest of a cluster of townships that constitute present day Soweto was established The township was created to house mainly black labourers who worked in mines and other industries in the city away from the city centre The inner city was later to be reserved for white occupation as the policy of segregation took root But it was not until 1963 that the acronym Soweto was adopted as the official name for the South Western Townships following a four year public competition on an appropriate name for the sprawling township The perennial problems of Soweto have since its inception included poor housing overcrowding high unemployment and poor infrastructure This has seen settlements of shacks made of corrugated iron sheets becoming part of the Soweto landscape Apartheid planning did not provide much in terms of infrastructure and it is only in recent years that the democratic government has spearheaded moves to plant trees develop parks and install electricity and running water to some parts of the township Soweto has also been a hotbed of many political campaigns that took place in the country the most memorable of which was the 1976 student uprising Other politically charged campaigns to have germinated in Soweto include the squatter movement of the 1940s and the defiance campaigns of the mid to late 1980s
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Photo credit: © BonkersAboutTravel / Alamy / Afripics
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