Soweto

South western townships.

A poor area of Johannesburg, created in the Apartheid era as a ghetto for the black population. As the name Townships suggests, it is a large area ranging from middle class suburbs to squatter camps.

The events of June 16 1976 in Soweto were a defining moment in South Africa's history. Schoolchildren who were marching against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction (it was not thier first language) were shot dead by the police.

A black township south of Johannesburg. One of the areas in South Africa hardest hit by violence during the struggle against apartheid. Despite all of the poverty, the rapid spread of AIDS, malnutrition, murders and road accidents Soweto boats a world class youth orchestra (founded in 1997) that will leave for its first world tour later in 2001. (They will be in Los Angeles in April 2001) "I can always walk with my head high, thinking of how it feels when we are performing, when we play the kind of music we do, I feel I'm representing Soweto in a whole new way."
18-year-old Gilbert Tsoke, now studying at the national arts school

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source: cnn.com