Books > History > African history
|
Buy Now
Orlando West, Soweto - An illustrated history (Paperback)
Loot Price: R769
Discovery Miles 7 690
You Save: R279
(27%)
|
|
Orlando West, Soweto - An illustrated history (Paperback)
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
|
Until the end of the First World War, urban growth in Johannesburg
proceeded unevenly and haphazardly, but under the impact of a wave
of militant struggles by black workers and in the context of the
devastating impact of the 1918 influenza epidemic, the state became
determined to better manage the movement of Africans into the urban
areas and to place them in properly controlled locations. The
promulgation of the Native (Urban) Areas Act of 1923 was intended
to meet these objectives. The Act was a hybrid piece of
legislation. On the one hand, it espoused the principles enunciated
by the Stallard Commission of 1922, which had infamously declared
that an African 'should only be allowed into the urban areas, which
are essentially the white man's creation, when he is willing to
enter and minister to the needs of the white man, and should depart
therefrom when he ceases so to minister'. On the other hand, when
it empowered local authorities to set aside land for black
residential purposes, it recognised the need to create conditions
for the settlement of an urban African population in order to
provide a reliable supply of labour to secondary industry. The
growing demand for housing led the government to establish Orlando
(named after the chairman of the Native Affairs Committee, Edwin
Orlando Leake) in 1931, when thousands of African families were
evicted from urban slums in and around the city centre and moved
there. The authorities described this as a 'model native township'
that was supposedly planned along the lines of a garden city. The
new location, it promised, would be characterised by tree-lined
streets, business opportunities and recreation facilities.
Reflecting the views of a somewhat conservative section of the
African urban elite, the popular African newspaper Bantu World
predicted on 14 May 1932 that the new township 'will undoubtedly be
somewhat of a paradise [that] will enhance the status of the Bantu
within the ambit of progress and civilisation.' Orlando West,
Soweto illuminates the genesis of Orlando township and its
well-known subsequent history, which is inextricably linked with
the lives of prominent South Africans such as Nelson Mandela and
Desmond Tutu, amongst many others. A beautiful photographic essay
complements the testimony from residents, who describe the way
things were, and the way they are now, in the heart of Soweto,
South Africa's most iconic African township.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.