Sophiatown
Sophiatown
Sof'town, Kofifi, Triomf | ||
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Postal code (street) | 2092 |
Sophiatown
Rebuilt as a whites-only area under the name of Triomf ("Triumph") in the 1960s, in 2006 it was officially returned to its original name. Sophiatown was one of the oldest black areas in Johannesburg and its destruction represented some of the excesses of South Africa under apartheid.[2]
History
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Apartheid |
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Sophiatown was originally part of the Waterfall farm. Over time it included the neighbouring areas of Martindale and Newclare. It was purchased by a speculator, Hermann Tobiansky, in 1897. He acquired 237 acres four miles or so west of the centre of Johannesburg.[3] The private leasehold township was surveyed in 1903 and divided into almost 1700 small stands. The township was named after Tobiansky's wife, Sophia, and some of the streets were named after his children Toby, Gerty, Bertha and Victoria.[4] Before the enactment of the Natives Land Act, 1913, black South Africans also had freehold rights in the area, and bought properties in the suburb. The distance from the city centre was seen as disadvantageous, and after the City of Johannesburg built a sewage plant nearby, the area seemed even less attractive.[5] Most of the wealthy people had moved out by 1920. By the late 1940s Sophiatown had a population of nearly 54,000 Africans, 3,000 Coloureds, 1,500 Indians and 686 Chinese, both owners and renters.[4] As the land never belonged to the Johannesburg municipality, it was never developed through municipal housing schemes, which in black areas usually involved row upon row of "matchbox" houses, based on uniformity and lack of character.[13]
Forced removals
It was adjacent to white working-class areas, such as
When the Sophiatown removals scheme was promulgated, Sophiatown residents united to protest against the forced removals, creating the slogan "Ons dak nie, ons phola hier" (roughly, "we won't move"). Figures like
Triomf
After the forced removals and demolition, the area was rebuilt as renamed "Triomf" —Afrikaans for Triumph—by the government.[8] The social engineers of apartheid tried to create a suburb for the white working-class, and Triomf was predominantly populated by poorer working-class Afrikaners.[9] Marlene van Niekerk's award-winning novel Triomf focuses on the daily lives of a family of poor whites in this era.[9]
Restoration of the name Sophiatown
The Johannesburg City Council took the decision in 1997 to reinstate the old name Sophiatown for the suburb. On 11 February 2006, the process finally came to fruition when Mayor Amos Masondo changed the name of Triomf back to Sophiatown.[10] Today, Sophiatown again has a racially mixed population.
Geography and geology
Sophiatown is located on one of Johannesburg's ridges called
The Melville Koppies Nature Reserve is a Johannesburg City Heritage Site.
Culture
Early life in Sophiatown
Sophiatown, unlike other townships in South Africa, was a freehold township, which meant that it was one of the rare places in South African urban areas where blacks were allowed to own land. This was land that never belonged to the Johannesburg municipality, and so it never developed through municipal housing schemes.[13] The houses were built according to people's ability to pay, tastes, and cultural background. Some houses were built of brick and had four or more rooms; some were much smaller. Others were built like homes in the rural areas; others still were single room shacks put together with corrugated iron and scrap sheet metal. The majority of the families living in Sophiatown were tenants and sub-tenants. Eight or nine people lived in a single room and the houses hid backyards full of shanties built of cardboard and flattened kerosene cans,[14] since many Black property owners in Sophiatown were poor. In order to pay back the mortgages on their properties, they had to take in paying tenants.[13]
Sophiatown residents had a determination to construct a respectable lifestyle in the shadow of a state that was actively hostile to such ambitions. A respectable lifestyle rested on the three pillars of religious devotion, reverence for formal education, and a desire for law and order.[15]
People struggled to survive together starvation was a serious problem, and a rich culture based on
These two conflicting images of Sophiatown stand side by side – the romantic vision of a unique community juxtaposed with a seedy and violent township with dangers lurking at every corner.[13]
Arts and literature
The cultural process was somehow intensified in Sophiatown, as in
The musical
One of the boys,
Images of Sophiatown were initially built up in literature by a generation of South African writers:
Later, images of Sophiatown could be found in Nadine Gordimer's novels, Miriam Makeba's ghostwritten autobiography and Trevor Huddleston's Naught for your comfort.[19] Alan Paton also details the social, cultural and political trajectory of Sophiatown in his 1983 novel, Ah, but Your Land Is Beautiful.[20]
Marlene van Niekerk's novel Triomf focuses on the suburb Triomf and recounts the daily lives of a family of poor white Afrikaners.[9] The book has been turned into a movie called Triomf, which won the Best South African Movie award in 2008.[21]
Crime and gangsterism
Crime and violence were a reality of urban life and culture in Sophiatown. The poverty, misery, violence and lawlessness of the city led to the growth of many gangs. Sections of society frowned on gangsterism as anti-social behaviour and gangsters like Kortboy and Don Mattera were despised by many as "anti social", but were also sometimes perceived as “social bandits” that were part of the resistance to apartheid.[22]
After the
In Johannesburg in the 1950s, crime was a day-to-day reality, and Sophiatown was the nucleus of all reef crimes. Gangsters were city-bred and spoke a mixture of Afrikaans and English, known as
One of the more successful community campaigns emerged in the early 1950s when informal policing initiatives known as the Civic Guards were mobilized to combat rising crime. This attempt to restore law and order attracted widespread support prior to a series of bloody clashes with the migrant criminal society from the poorer enclave of Newclare. This provided the state with an excuse to ban the Guard groups which they eyed with suspicion because of their ANC and Communist Party connections. These supposed arbiters of law and order engaged in a series of brutal street battles with members of the "Russians" gang in the early 1950s.[24]
The representation of gangsters in the literature (Drum magazine) went through very different stages during the 1950s and early 1960s. The first representation is characterized by consistent condemnations of crime as an urban phenomenon that threatens the rural identity of tribal blacks. The second is almost a complete turn-around from the first, as gangsters are portrayed as urban survivors who are able to achieve a standard of living normally denied to blacks. The final period is an extended period of nostalgia for the shebeen culture that all but disappeared with the destruction of Sophiatown.[25]
Landmarks
The Church of Christ the King
One of the few tangible reminders of the old Sophiatown is the Anglican Church of Christ the King in Ray Street. The architect was Frank Flemming, who designed 85 churches throughout South Africa.
Dr A. B. Xuma's house
Good Street
Good Street was significant in the life of Sophiatown. It was described as a "Street of Shebeens". The writer Can Themba's house, called the House of Truth, was on Good Street, as well as Fatty Phyllis Peterson's 39 Steps. To get to the 39 Steps, one had to walk up a flight of steps, which looked by all accounts very dingy. One was then met by Fatty, who sold about every type of drink: whisky, brandy, gin, beer, wine, etc. Sometimes she even supplied cigars.[32] Good Street was also renowned for its Indian, Chinese and Jewish shops, and for being a street of criminals and gangsters.[30]
St Joseph's Home for Children
The Home opened its doors in 1923. It was built as a diocesan memorial to the Coloured men who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. It was run by the Anglican nuns, the Order of St Margaret, East Grinstead, who remained in charge until 1978, when they left South Africa in protest against apartheid. The Main Block, Boys' House and Priests' House were designed by the diocesan architect F. L. H. Flemming. The Church successfully opposed removal of the Home because the property was on farm land and not part of a proclaimed township.[27]
The Odin Cinema
There were two cinemas in Sophiatown. The larger was the Odin, which at the time was also the largest in Africa and could seat 1,200 people. The other cinema, Balansky's, was a lower-class, rougher movie-house, while the Odin Cinema was more up-market. The Odin was the pride of Sophiatown. It was owned by a white couple, the Egnoses, who were known as Mr and Mrs Odin. Not only did they provide much loved entertainment, but also made the Odin available for political meetings, parties and stage performances. Some international acts played to multi-racial audiences at the Odin.[33] It was also the site of a series of "Jazz at the Odin" jam sessions featuring white and black musicians. Also at a meeting at the Odin, the ultimately unsuccessful resistance to the destruction of Sophiatown began to coalesce.[16]
Freedom Square
Freedom Square was located on the corner of Victoria and Morris Streets. It was famous in the 1950s for the political meetings held there. It was utilised by the African National Congress (ANC) and the Transvaal Congress Party. Many of the meetings were chaired by Trevor Huddleston. Freedom Square facilitated the cooperation between the aforementioned political parties. Here parties worked together against the apartheid regime.[30] Freedom Square in Sophiatown should not be confused with Freedom Square in Kliptown, Soweto, where the Freedom Charter was adopted by the ANC in 1955. It was in this Freedom Square in Sophiatown that Nelson Mandela made his first public allusion to violence and armed resistance as a legitimate tool for change. This earned him a reprimand from Albert Luthuli who by then replaced Dr A.B. Xuma as president of the ANC.[34] Current remnants of Freedom Square may be found beneath a school playing field alongside the Christ the King Church.[35]
St Cyprian's Missions School
This primary school was the site of religious and educational significance in Sophiatown. It was an Anglican Mission school located in Meyer Street and was established in 1928. St Cyprian's was the largest primary school in Sophiatown.[30] Oliver Tambo and Trevor Huddleston taught here, as both were passionate about education.[36] It was also the St Cyprian's School boys who a dug out the pool behind the house of the Community of the Resurrection in order to have a swimming pool. The school boys of St Cyprian's later went to Father Ross or Father Raynes or Father Huddleston who tried to get them bursaries to go to St Peter's School, then Fort Hare University and later even the University of the Witwatersrand. The idea was that they should come back as doctors.[37]
Oak tree in Bertha Street
The tree gained a sinister reputation as the "Hanging Tree" when two people hanged themselves from its branches, both due to being subjected to the forced removals.[30] The tree was designated as of the first Champion Tree of South Africa. Champion trees are trees in South Africa that are of exceptional importance, and deserve national protection.[38]
Notable residents
See also
- Sophiatown, a 2003 film about Sophiatown
- Drum, a 2004 film about Sophiatown
- Bloke Modisane, Lewis Nkosi, and Lionel Rogosin.
- "The Suit", a short story by Sophiatown-resident Can Themba, set in 1950s Sophiatown.
- The Suit (2016 film), a short film adaptation of the Can Themba short story set in Sophiatown, written and directed by Jarryd Coetsee.
References
- ^ a b c d "Sub Place Sophiatown". Census 2011.
- ^ Otzen, Ellen (11 February 2015). "The town destroyed to stop black and white people mixing". BBC News. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 978-0-86970-689-3.
- .
- ^ a b "1955 Sophiatown Forced Removals". National Digital Repository. National Digital Repository. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ a b Sindane, Lucky; Davie, Lucille (9 February 2005). "Remembering Sophiatown". Joburg.org.za. City of Johannesburg. Archived from the original on 24 September 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ISBN 0-624-03884-X.
- ^ JSTOR 40151854.
- ^ Davie, Lucille (14 February 2006). "Sophiatown again, 50 years on". City of Johannesburg. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Melville Koppies Geology". Friends of Melville Koppies. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
- ^ "Melville Koppies". Friends of Melville Koppies. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
- ^ a b c "Life in Sophiatown". South African History Online. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ^ Martin, Peter Bird (26 November 1955). "Cities of the World No. 14: Johannesburg". The Saturday Evening Post.
- JSTOR 40036478.
- ^ .
- .
- .
- .
- ^ Paton, Alan. Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful. Penguin Books. 1983. pp. 111-116.
- ^ Raeburn, Michael. "Triomf". Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ a b c "Gangsterism in Sophiatown". South African History Online. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- JSTOR 2637160.
- JSTOR 40036478.
- JSTOR 2637160.
- ^ a b Davie, Lucille (10 February 2005). "Sophiatown: recalling the loss". City of Johannesburg. IMC. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b c "Joburg Heritage: Plaques". Johannesburg Heritage. 3 December 2011.
- ^ Davie, Lucille (1 November 2004). "Sophiatown unveils Sekoto mural". SouthAfrica.info. Originally published by the City of Johannesburg. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Great churches and temples of Joburg". City of Johannesburg. 13 November 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Sophiatown Heritage and Cultural Centre. Posters at the Sophiatown Heritage and Cultural Centre.
- ISBN 0-86852-098-5.
- ISBN 0-14-318548-9.
- ^ "Music and culture as forms of resistance". South African History Online. 3 December 2011.
- ^ Harrison, Philip (2012). South Africa's Top Sites: The Struggle. p. 48.
- ^ Davie, Lucille (17 September 2004). "Plan aims to excavate Sophiatown memories". Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za). Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- ^ "Welcome". The Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ISBN 0-14-318548-9.
- ^ Davie, Lucille (8 September 2004). "SA's first champion tree proclaimed in Sophiatown". Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
External links
External audio | |
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Clip from an interviewed Victor Mokhini, an ex-resident of Sophiatown |
- South African History Online: Sophiatown
- South African History Online: The Destruction of Sophiatown
- Come Back, Africa by Lionel Rogosin on YouTube
- The Official Lionel Rogosin website
- Come Back, Africa, Lionel Rogosin & Peter Davis, STE Publishers, ISBN 1-919855-17-3(The book of the film)
- 1955 Time magazine article - Toby Street Blues about the forced removals