"SOWETO - no more the ghetto ... " is Part 2 of the 2 x part series on Soweto produced by Kevin Harris in 1998. [Episode 1 of this 2 x part series is "SOWETO - the passion the pain ..."]
Soweto - 1998 - estimated population - some 4 million people. One time apartheid "ghetto" serving the labour requirements of Johannesburg & the goldfields - today, a vibrant fusion of indigenous African subcultures.
Washed by the tides of Western cultural influence - Soweto nevertheless maintains its own identity - and with it - an ingrained sense of community - witnessed in the celebration of life's traditional rituals of birth, marriage and death.
In life as in death - Soweto is a city of contrasts and contradictions; here, the past sits comfortably alongside the future.
While Zionists worship and baptize on the banks of the Klipspruit River as they have done for decades - nearby men and machines grapple with the transformation of Soweto from yesterday's ghetto township to tomorrow's model city.
For many, life in Soweto begins after dark - especially over the week-ends - when on the "shebeen route" the doors open on Friday afternoon & don't close until Sunday evening.
As the drinks flow, local and international patrons soak up the Soweto atmosphere - with an estimated 1 000 international tourists visiting Soweto on an average day.
This 2 x part series is a bitter-sweet journey through Soweto's turbulent history, cultural revolution and commitment to building a community.
Intimately related by a handful of the many giants of character that have emerged from this township, it is a tribute to the passion and resilience of SOWETO's sons and daughters - who, when forcibly relocated to what was then Orlando & Meadowlands - brought with them the vibrancy & tradition of places like Sophiatown.
This passion gave birth to a distinctive & memorable subculture of creative expression through music, literature and the arts that has become the trademark of Soweto. Soweto's pain is a long relationship with violence - originating long before the landmark student uprisings of 1976 - the seeds of urban black oppression planted in Orlando East in 1931 - when the first wave of black families forcibly relocated from white Johannesburg - arrived to faceless rows of identical two-roomed houses.
In spite of this - through it's underlying sense of community and spirit of "ubuntu" - Soweto has produced champions in every field, from sport to politics to the arts and business.
Featured are:
Sibongile Khumalo, Walter Sisulu, Dr Agrey Klaaste, Tandie Klaasen, Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse, Peter Magubane, The Soweto String Quartet, Gibson Kente, Baby Jake Matlala, Dingaan Thobele, Bafana Hlope, Dr Nthatho Motlana & Winnie Madikizela Mandela.
