Soweto sets the pace

2004-10-12 14:41

Johannesburg - Soweto is marking its centenary and, reports the BBC, the area is seen by some as a model of hope for South Africa as a whole.

"Soweto is not a place of doom and gloom - it's a place of hope," local businessman Dan Moyane said.

"It's a place where some of us come and get inspiration and the way things are at the moment.

Soweto, in my mind, has to form the base of a new future for South Africa."

Tens of thousands of Johannesburg's black residents were moved out of the city centre to Soweto as the white authorities imposed segregation.

Soweto is now home to 3.5 million people and famous leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived in the area.

During apartheid, Soweto became a hotbed of resistance to the government and political activity.

The student riots of 1976 began here and spread across the country, paving the way towards the end of apartheid.

Perhaps the most powerful symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle was the shooting dead of 13-year-old Hector Pieterson by a policeman during the Soweto riots.

His death, captured by harrowing photographs seen across the world marked a turning point which finally brought democracy 10 years ago.

Life improving

The BBC's Alastair Leithead reports that Soweto is a vibrant, energetic area where community seems to mean so much more than in Johannesburg's sterile, security-ringed suburbs.

Life is slowly improving for the inhabitants and thousands of tourists visit Soweto every year.

While Aids and unemployment are still huge problems in Soweto, there is a real feeling of optimism that the next 100 years have good things in store for the sprawling township, Leithead says.

The authorities say the money raised from events to mark the anniversary will be used to help to improve the township.

- News24