Anthony Egan SOWETO: A HISTORY by Philip Bonner and Lauren Segal (Maskew Miller Longman) THE SOWETO UPRISINGS: COUNTER-MEMORIES OF JUNE 1976 by Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu (Ravan)
The city to the south-west of Johannesburg , Soweto, has had a short but significant history. It started largely as a settlement for migrant workers to the Witwatersrand, a place for those who stayed despite state attempts to send them back once their work contracts were up.
By the 1930s permanent settlements had started. In the decades that followed, the geographical area widened and the population rose dramatically. A mixture of small houses, single-sex hostels and informal settlements sprung up. With the emergence of Soweto a new “township”culture arose, as did political organisations such as the Sofasonke party and the militant Black Consciousness Movement.
The youth was the force behind the 1976 uprising, sparked by the use of Afrikaans in schools. The 1980s saw the re-emergence of the African National Congress tradition through groups like the United Democratic Front. From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, Soweto was a volatile place – a place of resistance to apartheid and rivalry between ideologically opposed movements.
The 1976 uprising is the subject of Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu’s short work, part of the recently launched Ravan Local History series. The author draws on oral testimony to show that the dominant interpretation of the uprising – that it was an organised act of resistance and that the BCM played crucial organising roles in it -is mistaken. New evidence collected here suggests that it was much more of a spontaneous rebellion, only later guided by black consciousness youth organisations . The book is a well-produced little slice of modern history.
Philip Bonner and Lauren Segal’s book is detailed, well-written, clear and accessible, with excellent visual material and welcome extracts from the work of Soweto poets. But it suffers from an unacceptably high number of typographical errors and the visual material is often repetitive. Some photos are captioned, some not. This detracts from an otherwise very competent and readable book.