apartheid - The African Mirror

Oct

2022

Apartheid ‘town planning’ created Orlando 90 years ago. It became a hotbed of black resistance

ORLANDO East, a working-class community on the periphery of Johannesburg in South Africa, has turned 90 years old. Orlando was one of the first municipal locations – called townships under apartheid – established in 1932 for Africans under the 1923 Native Urban Areas Act. It was renamed Orlando East when Orlando West was established in the 1940s. Author NOOR NIEFTAGODIEN, Head of the History Workshop, University of the Witwatersrand Several new townships were created, especially in the 1950s, in the same region. They were eventually amalgamated into Soweto, the country’s largest township. Soweto was the primary dormitory township for African…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s struggle songs against apartheid come from a long tradition of resistance

LIFESTYLE

STRUGGLE songs, also known as protest music or liberation songs, are defined as “expressions of discontent or dissent” used by politically disenfranchised protesters to influence political conversations and express emotions. Some scholars argue that these songs date back to ancient biblical times when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and “the Hebrew people sang their lamentations”. In the American context, researchers contend that protest music can be traced back to transatlantic slaves. But others note that the use of these songs goes back even further. Author SISANDA NKOALA, Senior Lecturer, Cape Peninsula University of Technology In modern Africa and in…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

How black upward mobility fast-tracked racial desegregation in Johannesburg

AFRICITIES

SCHOLARS disagree about whether the formerly whites-only neighbourhoods of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest and most economically important city, have become substantially desegregated since the end of apartheid in 1994. Some argue that racial residential segregation has declined only slightly, while others argue that it is substantial. Author OWEN CRANKSHAW, Emeritus Professor of Urban Studies, University of Cape Town My recent research shows that the extent of racial desegregation is much more substantial than is commonly accepted. This research is based on population census data for the years 1996, 2001 and 2011 and is a result of my long-term scholarly interest…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Book sheds light on apartheid South Africa’s hidden massacre

LITERATURE

APPALLING atrocities occurred under the flag of apartheid as the white minority government sought to impose a racist system on the majority of South African citizens. Many of the atrocities were subsequently investigated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and are now seared into public memory. MIGNONNE BREIER, Honorary Research Associate, School of Education, University of Cape Town But not all. One of the more notable gaps in the country’s collective memory is a massacre that took place in 1952. It was never officially investigated and few people know about it. I set about trying to rectify this in my…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Special land court for SA

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's government has unveiled plans for a special court to expedite the return of land taken from black people under apartheid by handling disputes that have held up the highly sensitive process. Two decades since the end of white minority rule, large swathes of private land is still under white ownership and redistribution efforts have often ended up in court, with thousands of land claims remaining unresolved. The proposed Land Court will have the same level of power as the High Court with permanent judges and will also look into conflict resolution and mediation, the justice ministry said, making…