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Sophiatown

Sophiatown /sˈfətn/, also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a poor multi-racial area and a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid. It produced some of South Africa's most famous writers, musicians, politicians and artists, like Father Huddleston, Can Themba, Bloke Modisane, Es'kia Mphahlele, Arthur Maimane, Todd Matshikiza, Nat Nakasa, Casey Motsisi, Dugmore Boetie, and Lewis Nkosi.

For the 2003 film, see Sophiatown (film).

Sophiatown
Sof'town, Kofifi, Triomf

0.95 km2 (0.37 sq mi)

5,371

5,700/km2 (15,000/sq mi)

26.8%

25.8%

5.1%

41.4%

0.8%

44.5%

31.9%

4.7%

4.5%

14.4%

2092

Rebuilt as a whites-only area under the name of Triomf ("Triumph") in the 1960s, in 2006 it was officially returned to its original name. Sophiatown was one of the oldest black areas in Johannesburg and its destruction represented some of the excesses of South Africa under apartheid.[2]

Culture[edit]

Early life in Sophiatown[edit]

Sophiatown, unlike other townships in South Africa, was a freehold township, which meant that it was one of the rare places in South African urban areas where blacks were allowed to own land. This was land that never belonged to the Johannesburg municipality, and so it never developed through municipal housing schemes.[13] The houses were built according to people's ability to pay, tastes, and cultural background. Some houses were built of brick and had four or more rooms; some were much smaller. Others were built like homes in the rural areas; others still were single room shacks put together with corrugated iron and scrap sheet metal. The majority of the families living in Sophiatown were tenants and sub-tenants. Eight or nine people lived in a single room and the houses hid backyards full of shanties built of cardboard and flattened kerosene cans,[14] since many Black property owners in Sophiatown were poor. In order to pay back the mortgages on their properties, they had to take in paying tenants.[13]


Sophiatown residents had a determination to construct a respectable lifestyle in the shadow of a state that was actively hostile to such ambitions. A respectable lifestyle rested on the three pillars of religious devotion, reverence for formal education, and a desire for law and order.[15]


People struggled to survive together starvation was a serious problem, and a rich culture based on shebeens (informal and mostly illegal pubs), mbaqanga music, and beer-brewing developed. The shebeens were one of the main forms of entertainment. People came to the shebeens not only for skokiaan or baberton (illegally self-made alcoholic beverages), but to talk about their daily worries, their political ideas and their fears and hopes. In these shebeens the politicians tried to influence others and get them to conform to their form of thinking. If one disagreed he immediately became suspect and was classified as a police informer.[16]


These two conflicting images of Sophiatown stand side by side – the romantic vision of a unique community juxtaposed with a seedy and violent township with dangers lurking at every corner.[13]

a 2003 film about Sophiatown

Sophiatown

, a 2004 film about Sophiatown

Drum

, a film shot underground in Sophiatown in the 1950s by Lionel Rogosin with writing credits by Bloke Modisane, Lewis Nkosi, and Lionel Rogosin.

Come Back, Africa

a short story by Sophiatown-resident Can Themba, set in 1950s Sophiatown.

"The Suit"

a short film adaptation of the Can Themba short story set in Sophiatown, written and directed by Jarryd Coetsee.

The Suit (2016 film)

South African History Online: Sophiatown

South African History Online: The Destruction of Sophiatown

by Lionel Rogosin on YouTube

Come Back, Africa

The Official Lionel Rogosin website

Come Back, Africa, Lionel Rogosin & Peter Davis, STE Publishers,  1-919855-17-3 (The book of the film)

ISBN

1955 Time magazine article - Toby Street Blues about the forced removals