Soweto

Soweto is an urban area in the city of Johannesburg. The name is short for South Western Townships, subsequently referred to by its residents and other South Africans as "So Where To". It remains a traditional home for migrant labour from across South Africa. Located in the southwest of Johannesburg’s central business district, Soweto is home to approximately 900,000 people, housed in an estimated 150,000 - 180,000 densely populated households .

Many houses connected to the grid since 1994 have reverted to cooking on open coal, paraffin stoves and open wood fires. Complaints about the high cost of electricity frequently lead to illegal connections and associated accidents. The focus of the project in Sowoto will be on those households that are unable to afford electricity. Of these households, 71% use paraffin to cook with, 15.5% coal and 6% gas. These fossil fuel cooking methods impose a high cost on the household, along with contributing to climate change. Traditional coal stoves are a major contributor to Johannesburg's poor air quality; this project will provide township dwellers with a viable alternative.

This project area has been selected due to the ongoing hardships that Soweto has experienced. Soweto is predominantly a black area, and as such apartheid policies sought to prevent its expansion. This led to deliberate reductions in Soweto’s housing construction rates in the 1960s and 1970s, a factor which has contributed to today’s acute housing shortages and overcrowding. In recent years the population has increased significantly with many Zimbabweans coming to the city to seek a better life. The area is culturally very diverse with all eleven of the country's official languages spoken in Soweto, including; Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Venda, and Tsonga.

Many parts of Soweto rank among the poorest in Johannesburg, although individual townships tend to have a mix of wealthier and poorer residents. In 1994 Sowetans earned on average six and a half times less than their counterparts in wealthier areas of Johannesburg. It is estimated that the average wage is around 2000 rand (£140) per month, for the poorer families living in Sowoto this estimated to be around 25% of their income spent on cooking fuel .

In general, households in the outlying areas to the northwest and southeast have lower incomes. It is in these poorer regions that this project is focused. Infrastructure represents a problem in here; houses are made of temporary materials, roads are unpaved, taps are shared between many households and only a minority of households has access to electricity.

History

Soweto has experienced a violent and tumultuous history; from gold mine settlements in the late 19th century to an evacuation camp in World War II, to segregated black townships driven by apartheid from 1948. In 1963, the name Soweto was officially adopted for the sprawling township that by now occupied what had been the farms of Doornkop, Klipriviersoog, Diepkloof, Klipspruit and Vogelstruisfontein. In 1976 Soweto was put on the World’s agenda following the eruption of protests known as the Soweto uprising, which resulted in the deaths of 566 people. The protests were over the government's policy to enforce education in Afrikaans rather than English, and deaths were caused when police opened fire on 10,000 marching students. Soweto became an independent municipality with elected black councilors in 1983.

In 2002 Soweto was incorporated into the City of Johannesburg. But the violence did not stop, and in the same year bomb explosions, believed to be the work of a right wing extremist group, damaged buildings and railway lines, killing one person.

The economic development of Soweto was severely curtailed by the apartheid state, which provided very limited infrastructure and prevented residents from creating their own businesses. Between 1923 and 1976 people living in Soweto were prevented from declaring self-employment status. Certain essential enterprises were allowed, but overall the numbers of these were strictly controlled.

Source: National Census 2001
Source: Sugrue, A. 2005. Energy for Sustainable Development, presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Minerals and Energy. 9 March 2005.