- Title: South Africa marks 70 years since Sophiatown removals amid land reform debates
- Date: 9th February 2025
- Summary: SOPHIATOWN, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (FEBRUARY 8, 2025) (REUTERS) VIEWS OF SOWETO AND MINE DUMPS FROM SOPHIATOWN SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA (FEBRUARY 7, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER SOPHIATOWN RESIDENT, MSOMI WILLIS, SAYING: "You know, my opinion, I don't feel sad, I just feel happy, what can I do? If I get back in Sophiatown, I take a walk from there in Toby s
- Embargoed: 23rd February 2025 08:57
- Keywords: Access City Economy History Johannesburg Meadowlands Sophiatown South Africa Soweto apartheid conversation democracy forced removals land
- Location: JOHANNESBURG, SOPHIATOWN, SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA
- City: JOHANNESBURG, SOPHIATOWN, SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Africa,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA004985108022025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Seventy years ago, on February 9, 1955, South Africa's apartheid government began forcibly removing residents from Sophiatown, a vibrant mixed-race neighbourhood west of Johannesburg, as part of its racial segregation policy.
The anniversary comes as South Africa faces renewed international scrutiny over its land reform policies, with recent legislation aimed at addressing historical racial disparities in land ownership drawing both support and criticism.
"They bring us here to the mine dumps, this place was mine dumps, this Meadowlands," said Msomi Willis, a former Sophiatown resident, recalling the day the police came with trucks, loaded up his family's belongings, and took them to Soweto.
South Africa's British imperial masters gave most farmland to whites. In 1950, the Afrikaner National Party passed a law taking 85% of territory for themselves and kicking 3.5 million Black people off their ancestral homelands.
The Sophiatown removals began in 1950 and lasted through 1962.
Homes were demolished and the area was reclassified as whites-only, renamed Triomf (Afrikaans for "Triumph"). Residents were relocated to higher density neighborhoods, far away from the town centre and often on undesirable land.
In 2006, the neighbourhood's name reverted to Sophiatown.
"My parents and grandparents, whenever they talked about this place, they talked about it with fondness," said Jacob Libeko, curator of a local museum preserving Sophiatown's history.
The legacy of these forced removals persists. Many Black South Africans remain economically excluded from owning land and live in areas lacking facilities and services.
In the 30 years that the African National Congress has been in power, some land restitution has happened under a "willing buyer, willing seller" model, but white landowners still possess three-quarters of South Africa's freehold farmland. This contrasts with 4% owned by Black people.
Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill aimed at making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, sparking international debate.
The move has drawn criticism from some quarters, including U.S. President Donald Trump, who has claimed, without evidence, that South Africa is confiscating land and mistreating certain groups.
Ramaphosa has defended the policy, saying it aims to address racial disparities in land ownership and that no land has been confiscated.
Some critics argue that the delay in addressing land reform - 31 years into the country's democracy - has perpetuated cycles of poverty.
"The apartheid regime was the original sinner... The new government was supposed to get it right, to improve it, but it has not succeeded," said Professor Noor Nieftagodien, a historian at Wits University in Johannesburg.
(Production: Catherine Schenck) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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