The Creation of Soweto: Orlando
An aerial picture of Orlando
Source: Bonner, P. and Segal, L. (1998). Soweto: A Histroy. Howard Drive: Maskew Miller Longman.
Under Prime Minister Jan Smuts, the South African government passed the Native Urban Areas Act, determining areas where black people could reside and allowing for their relocation. The act also had a clause determining that government should provide alternative accommodation (housing) before relocation. The need for housing before any relocation turned out to be one of the major problems faced by Sowetans, especially the earlier inhabitants of Soweto, and the government reacted by amending the clause that made the provision of housing compulsory. This came after slum landlords and African tenants successfully challenged the relocations in the Supreme Court, 1925. In the 1920s there was a backlog of 40 000 houses and the list was growing.
From the early 1930s, the number of black people in the Johannesburg was increasing probably due to the great depression, forced removals in the countryside, and the 1932 gold wealth. The 1927 amendment of the Native Urban Areas Act enabled the government to relocate people without first providing them with alternative accommodation and also without paying considerable attention to the growing need for more housing. In 1931, black people were relocated to what was to become the first township of Soweto, namely Orlando. Most of the 1st generation Sowetans, who were relocated to Orlando, were from Prospect.
Residents of Prospects on their day of removal. Orlando became their new home
Source: Bonner, P. and Segal, L. (1998). Soweto: A Histroy. Howard Drive: Maskew Miller Longman.
The government first approached this relocation by encouraging black people to voluntary move to Orlando. A number of those who volunteered were wealthy Africans who could afford the added costs of relocation like transport to work and rent. By 1936, 12-000 people had been relocated to Orlando.
These are the first houses in Orlando. The inside walls were not plastered. The government used asbestos roofing. Wealthy people replaced the small windows with larger windows and they also erected a stoep in front of their houses.
Source: Bonner, P. and Segal, L. (1998). Soweto: A Histroy. Howard Drive: Maskew Miller Longman.
It is also significant to note that the mining industry was concerned that the relocation of black people to areas far away from the production site would affect the productivity of labour because of late coming. They agreed to the relocation, provided that tramways were constructed to transport their employees to and from work.
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Mpanza |
Ongoing project: Last updated October 2007
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