Sophiatown, Johannesburg South Africa

Sophiatown, 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 Nkos

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.

Sophiatown was originally part of the Waterfall farm. Over time it included the neighbouring areas of Martindale and Newclare. It was purchased by a speculator, Hermann Tobiansky, in 1897. He acquired 237 acres (96 ha) 4 miles (6.4 km) or so west of the centre of Johannesburg.

The private leasehold township was surveyed in 1903 and divided into almost 1700 small stands. The township was named after Tobiansky's wife, Sophia, and some of the streets were named after his children Toby, Gerty, Bertha and Victoria.

Before the enactment of the Natives Land Act, 1913, black South Africans also had freehold rights in the area, and bought properties in the suburb. The distance from the city centre was seen as disadvantageous, and after the City of Johannesburg built a sewage plant nearby, the area seemed even less attractive.

Most of the wealthy people had moved out by 1920. By the late 1940s Sophiatown had a population of nearly 54,000 Africans, 3,000 Coloureds, 1,500 Indians and 686 Chinese, both owners and renters.

As the land never belonged to the Johannesburg municipality, it was never developed through municipal housing schemes, which in black areas usually involved row upon row of "matchbox" houses, based on uniformity and lack of character.

It was adjacent to white working-class areas, such as Westdene and Newlands, and known for high levels of crime and poverty. The seregationist state viewed it as a slum, and believed that it was too close to white areas. From 1944, i.e., even before apartheid, the Johannesburg City Council planned to move the non-white population out of the Western Areas of Johannesburg, including Sophiatown. After the election victory of the National Party in 1948, relocation plans were debated at the level of national politics.

When the Sophiatown removals scheme was promulgated, Sophiatown residents united to protest against the forced removals, creating the slogan "Ons dak nie, ons phola hier" (roughly, "we won't move"). Figures like Nelson Mandela were key to the resistance. Some whites, like Father Trevor Huddleston, Helen Joseph and Ruth First also played an important role.

On 9 February 1955, 2,000 policemen, armed with handguns, rifles, and clubs known as knobkierries, forcefully moved the first batch of black families from Sophiatown to Meadowlands, Soweto. In the years that followed, other blacks were removed, and the Coloured evicted to Eldorado Park outside of Johannesburg, in addition to Westbury, Noorgesig and other coloured townships; the Indians were moved to Lenasia; and the Chinese moved to central Johannesburg.

During the forced removals, some displaced individuals found temporary shelter and support at the Albert Street Methodist Church, Johannesburg, which became a notable sanctuary for anti-apartheid activists and the homeless.

After the forced removals and demolition, the area was rebuilt as renamed "Triomf" —Afrikaans for Triumph—by the government.The social engineers of apartheid tried to create a suburb for the white working-class, and Triomf was predominantly populated by poorer working-class Afrikaners.

The Johannesburg City Council took the decision in 1997 to reinstate the old name Sophiatown for the suburb. On 11 February 2006, the process finally came to fruition when Mayor Amos Masondo changed the name of Triomf back to Sophiatown. Today, Sophiatown again has a racially mixed population.
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