Soweto is a predominantly black township located south west of the city of Johannesburg, hence its name. It is the most populous area in South Africa with 896 995 inhabitants (as of 2001 census) and as a result also houses some of the poorest areas in the country. Many houses do not have any plumbing or running water, we saw some people sharing one outside tap between at least five families. People living in shanties don’t have electricity either.
Soweto was made world famous by the 1976 Soweto uprising; mass protests over government policy to enforce education in Afrikaans rather than English, which would have catastrophically reduced already shameful education levels. It was also a place that produced resistance to apartheid in the 80′s and has had two famous inhabitants – Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.
This photo was taken at an orphanage we visited. There are around 30 children who live at the orphanage and then another 170 children who use it as a drop in centre where they can be fed and play freely. Gladys who runs the place has had to open seven days a week as some children that use the centre were arriving on a Monday starving hungry, having not eaten since Saturday morning. Since the arrival of Aids, there has been an explosion in the number of orphaned and abandoned children in South Africa, a problem which is exacerbated by the poverty factor. Many children have parents who are unable or unwilling to take care of them.
As we left, I asked our guide if there are any white people living in Soweto. He chuckled and told me, “There are no white people here, you white people wouldn’t survive without your showers and flushing toilets”.