Soweto Travel Guru

Music and soccer define Soweto today - a vibrant, cosmopolitan melting pot of multi-ethnic attitude, reflecting a turbulent, noisy, bustling past. Nelson Mandela lived in Soweto, as did Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Boxer Baby Jake Matlala also hails from the city which has produced the highest number of professional soccer teams in the country.

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Music and soccer define Soweto today - a vibrant, cosmopolitan melting pot of multi-ethnic attitude, reflecting a turbulent, noisy, bustling past. Founded in 1904 as Klipspruit, the cluster of townships grew over the following century, accumulating the likes of Pimville, Orlando, Diepkloof, Meadowlands, White City, Dobsonville, Jabavu, Naledi and a host of others. A product of segregationist planning - labour dormitory towns to feed the insatiable goldmines of the Witwatersrand - it was in 1963, during the forced apartheid removals, that the acronym Soweto (South Western Townships) was officially adopted, and which today is home to over 2 million Zulus, Xhosas, Sothos, Tsongas, Vendas, Swatis, Tswanas, Ndebeles and more. On 16 June 1976, the Soweto Uprising ignited the country in the struggle against apartheid oppression, immortalised by the death of young student Hector Petersen, and today celebrated as Youth Day. Nelson Mandela lived in Soweto, as did Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Boxer Baby Jake Matlala also hails from the city which has produced the highest number of professional soccer teams in the country.
From the swinging jazz and kwela of the 1950s to the street-aggro kwaito of today, the likes of Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, the Jazz Pioneers, Mandoza, Alaska, Trompies, TKZee and Zola define the soul of the city.