The outbreak of the Second World War in 1938 paved the way for a further influx of black people to Johannesburg. This influx followed a similar pattern as in the United States of America. In the United States, the war caused a vacuum in employment because more men were sent to Europe to fight the war leaving behind a growing demand of labour that was filled by women who were previously housewives. In South Africa, white men left a growing demand of labour that was filled by black men from the countryside. Furthermore, the growth of the manufacturing industry, with better pay than the mines, attracted more people, black people in particular, to come to Johannesburg. To ease their movement to Johannesburg the government relaxed pass laws. Their arrival in Johannesburg added to the increased pressure on the housing backlog.
The dire need of housing was instrumental in the rise of James Mpanza as a ‘father of Soweto'. Also instrumental in his rise was the failure of the African National Congress to take the rights of people without houses within their political agenda. This meant that a large number of people could not become a political force because they were left without representation and alliance to a formal organisation. James Mpanza saw the need for such an organisation and he founded the Sofasonke Party. At first the party sent their complaints to the city council, but later, the party resorted to land invasion. On 20 March 1944, James Mpanza led a group of homeless people to a stretch of vacant land across the river and boundaries of Orlando Township where they erected their shacks. The number of people in this squatter camp, known as Shantytown, increased almost on a daily basis. Within a short period of time, the number of people staying in Shantytown reached 4-000.
The land invasion in Orlando was followed land invasions from Pimville, west and east of Johannesburg, in 1947. In the previous year, James Mpanza had led another invasion of houses still under construction, which were intended to house people removed from the city centre. These invasions forced the government to concede that the need for housing in the township was very dire and that the City Council lacked the financial resources required to house the township population. In 1950, Ernest Oppenheimer visited Orlando. He was appalled by the living conditions of township dwellers and he entered into an agreement with the City Council to provide a loan to alleviate the housing backlog. The City Council would to repay the loan after a period of 30 years.
In 1960 the Mentz commission recommended that all ‘black spots' within the vicinity of Johannesburg be relocated to the area around Orlando. One of these ‘black spots' was the famous Sophiatown. In 1961, President Hendrik Verwoerd was the President of South Africa. He believed strongly in the separation of races and ethnic groups on the grounds that each should be allowed to develop according to its own terms, pace, and culture - a policy he referred to as ‘good neighbourliness'. During this period the removal of black people from town to township was almost complete.
