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Stuff from Johannesburg

Mbeki endorses ANC manifesto: ‘The commitments are the correct ones’

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa in the news:

  1. Mbeki endorses ANC manifesto: ‘The commitments are the correct ones’: Former President Thabo Mbeki’s presence alongside members of the ANC as the party launched its 2021 election manifesto was a welcomed surprise for many of the hundreds gathered at Church Square. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  2. Report into mismanagement of funds meant for artists welcomed: The Theatre and Dance Alliance has repeatedly called for accountability amid allegations of mismanagement of funds at the national arts council. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  3. Springboks have ’learnt lessons’ from narrow loss to All Blacks, says assistant coach Deon Davids: If the Springboks game plan will result in a different outcome, then it is easier to expect that they will be concentrating much more on their judgement in those tight exchanges and the closing … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  4. Girls from widow-headed homes forced into marriages: Siziwe Zwane, the mother of a 16-year-old girl, who was abducted on her way to school under the pretense of the customary practice known as ukuthwala (forced marriage) has highlighted the … – “Johannesburg” – BingNews
  5. WATCH | ANC promises end to corruption, Ramaphosa admits party mistakes: ANC President, Cyril Ramaphosa was speaking at the ANC’s manifesto launch ahead of November’s municipal elections. – “Johannesburg” – BingNews

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Have you tried: Visiting Port Elizabeth?

Did you know this about Johannesburg? The first recorded discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand was made by Jan Gerrit Bantjes in June 1884, on the farm Vogelstruisfontein. Other farms to become famous later included Langlaagte, Turffontein, Doornfontein and Braamfontein. George Harrison is today credited as the man who discovered an outcrop of the Main Reef of gold on the farm Langlaagte in February 1886. On 12 May 1886 Harrison and his partner, George Walker, entered into a prospecting agreement with the owner of Langlaagte, one G.C. Oosthuizen. Two days later Colonel Ignatius Ferreira staked out his camp on Turffontein to serve as a centre for diggers.

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From Sophiatown to Triomf

By 1963, Sophiatown had been physically razed to the ground. In a final act of psychological warfare, the government built a white working-class suburb over the rubble and named it Triumph (Triomf). They wanted to erase the very memory of Sophiatown from the landscape. For decades, the name Sophiatown disappeared from maps, replaced by the neat, sterile streets of the victors.

The “resurrection” of Sophiatown began officially in 2006, when the City of Johannesburg formally restored the original name to the suburb. Today, the neighborhood is a quiet, leafy residential area, but the ghosts of the “Paris of the Transvaal” are everywhere. The Sophiatown Heritage Centre, housed in the former home of Dr. A.B. Xuma (a former ANC president), is one of the few original buildings that escaped the bulldozers. Walking through the streets today, you can still find small markers of the past: a lone Victorian pillar, a specific tree mentioned in a poem, or the rebuilt St. Joseph’s Church.

The legacy of Sophiatown is not just one of tragedy, but of an indestructible cultural spirit. The music, the slang (Tsotsitaal), and the “Drum” era aesthetic continue to influence South African fashion and film today. It serves as a reminder that while you can bulldoze a house and rename a street, you cannot kill the soul of a place that once danced to the sound of a thousand saxophones.