Sophiatown regains its name

2006-02-11 13:35

Johannesburg - Sophiatown on Saturday officially regained its historic name at a ceremony west of Johannnesburg.

The township was named after the wife of Agrmann Tobiansky in 1899 after he bought 237 acres of land in the area.

But the apartheid government in symbolising its victory of forced removals in Sophiatown in the 1950's renamed it Triomph - an Afrikaans word meaning triumph.

"Whose victory was it when they threw us out like dogs. I thought death would only separate me from my Kofifi home in 10 Gibson street," old Sophiatown resident Patricia Mokoena-Harvey said remembering her childhood.

65 000 people were evicted in the apartheid governments biggest population removal under the Group Areas Act.

"We shared and struggled together. There was a rich culture based on illegal shebeens and mbaqanga music.

"I am very proud today to see all of this happening," said Kathy Koffie who has lived in Sophiatown since 1972.

Many old Sophiatown residents attended the ceremony dressed in outfits worn during the 1950s in remembrance of their younger days.

They were also treated to music by the legendary Abigail Kubheka and Thandi Claasen.

Also remembered was Kofifi's colourful characters such as the late Trevor Huddleston. Huddleston died on April 20 1998. He was in the forefront of the struggle fighting forced removals in the township.

Former President Nelson Mandela said at Huddleston's memorial service in 1998: "In Father Huddleston we see exemplified in the most concrete way the contribution that religion has made to our liberation. This man of action lived a deeply contemplative life and inspired the world to action through his eloquent denunciation of our condition and the realities of forced removals and bantu education."

Johannesburg Mayor Amos Masondo who was in attendance said Sophiatown produced leaders in various fields and that many people throughout the country looked to them for inspiration.

"We have come here today under the theme of renaming and reclaiming but there's also more to it than that. We have also come to name and symbolically reclaim the special people and places of old Sophiatown together with their memories and stories.

- SAPA