Orlando is a
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, ...
in the urban area of
Soweto
Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
. The township was founded in 1931 and named after
Edwin Orlando Leake, Mayor of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
from 1925 to 1926. It is divided in two main areas: Orlando West and Orlando East.
History
The township of Orlando was directly involved in some of the most important events of the fight against the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
system. Some of the most dramatic clashes between the South African police and anti-apartheid demonstrators occurred in Orlando West. This includes the
Soweto uprising where 12-year-old
Hector Pieterson
Zolile Hector Pieterson (19 August 1964 – 16 June 1976) was a South African schoolboy who was shot and killed at the age of twelve during the Soweto uprising, when the police opened fire on black students protesting the enforcement of teach ...
was killed. The
Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum was established in Orlando West to commemorate those events. In the surroundings of the museum is the house where
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...
lived for several years while practicing
law; the house now hosts the
Mandela Family Museum. Opposite the Mandela house is the Mandela Family Restaurant. South African struggle champion Mama Winnie Zanyiwe Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela resided in Soweto during the apartheid era until her death on 2 April 2018.
The Mandela Family Museum
'' is the home of the
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
team
Orlando Pirates of the
South African Premier Division
The South African Premier Division, officially referred to as the DStv Premiership for sponsorship purposes, is the premier men's professional football/soccer league and the highest division in the league system of South Africa, organized since ...
. They have won nine total top-flight league titles (four in the modern Premier Division), and nine national cup championships.
Notes
Gallery
Image:Mandela museum soweto.jpg, Mandela Family Museum (Orlando West)
Image:Hector Pieterson Memorial.jpg, Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum (Orlando West)
Image:Orlando East Library.jpg, Orlando East Public Library
Orlando East Public Library is the oldest library in Soweto in South Africa.
History
The library is said to have started in two iron huts in 1948 that lacked both electricity and seating.
The library was housed in the first building in Soweto ...
Image:Regina mundi church, soweto.JPG, The Regina Mundi church in Moroka, Soweto
{{Authority control
Soweto Townships
Johannesburg Region D