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James Mpanza
James Mpanza (15 May 1889 – 23 September 1970) was a squatter, community leader and social activist in Johannesburg, South Africa, from the mid-1940s until the late 1960s. In 1944 he led the land occupation that resulted in largest housing development and the founding of modern Soweto. Mpanza is known as "the father of Soweto".An Overview of Soweto
Retrieved June 2013


Life

Mpanza was born on 15 May 1889 in Georgedale, today part of Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga (Hammarsdale), a township between Pinetown and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. His father Ventile Mbihlana Mpanza, an ox cart driver, and his wife Evelyn had four children but their eldest son died before manhood. Mpanza studied until year 6 at Georgedale Primary School, before qualifying with a third-class teaching certificate at Indaleni ...
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Kwa-Zulu Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and Natal Province. It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean. It shares borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg, and its largest city is Durban, which is also the Port of Durban, city with the largest port in sub-saharan Africa. It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, after Gauteng. Two areas in KwaZulu-Natal have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park. These areas are important to the surrounding ecosystems. During the 1830s and early 1840s, the northern part of what is now KwaZulu-Natal was established as the Zulu Kingdom. The ...
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Natal Province
The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organised into the Bantustan of KwaZulu, which was progressively separated from the province, becoming partially autonomous in 1981. For the Coloureds, the capital and second-largest city of Cape Town was organised thus giving them the title of Cape Coloured ethnic group. Coming to the significant population of Indian South Africans residing in Natal, the third-largest city of Durban was organised for them. Of the white population mostly in the largest city of Johannesburg, the majority were English-speaking people of British descent, causing Natal to become the only province to vote "No" to the creation of a republic in the referendum of 1960, due to very strong monarchist, pro-British Commonwealth, and anti-secessionist sentiment. In the latter ...
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Shack Dwellers
A shack (or, in some areas, shanty) is a type of small shelter or dwelling, often primitive or rudimentary in design and construction. Unlike huts, shacks are constructed by hand using available materials; however, whereas huts are usually rural and made of natural materials (mud, rocks, sticks, etc.) shacks are generally composed of scavenged man-made materials like abandoned construction debris, repurposed consumer waste and other useful discarded objects that can be quickly acquired at little or no cost and fashioned into a small dwelling. Background In areas of high population density and high poverty, shacks are often the most prevalent form of housing; it is possible that up to a billion people worldwide live in shacks. Fire is a significant hazard in tight-knit shack settlements. Settlements composed mostly or entirely of shacks are known as slums or shanty towns. In Australian English, ''shack'' can also refer to a small holiday house with limited conveniences, for i ...
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Zulu People
Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They originated from Nguni communities who took part in the Bantu migrations over millennia. As the clans integrated, the rulership of Shaka brought success to the Zulu nation due to his improved military tactics and organization. Zulus take pride in their ceremonies such as the Umhlanga (ceremony)#South Africa, Umhlanga, or Reed Dance, and their various forms of beadwork. The art and skill of beadwork take part in the identification of Zulu people and act as a form of communication and dedication to the nation and specific traditions. Today, the Zulu people are predominantly Christian, but have created a Religious syncretism, syncretic religion that is combined with the Zulu's prior belief systems. History of the people of Zulu Origins Th ...
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South African Activists
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz'' ("south"), possibly related to the same Proto-Indo-European root that the word ''sun'' derived from. Some languages describe south in the same way, from the fact that it is the direction of the sun at noon (in the Northern Hemisphere), like Latin meridies 'noon, south' (from medius 'middle' + dies 'day', ), while others describe south as the right-hand side of the rising sun, like Biblical Hebrew תֵּימָן teiman 'south' from יָמִין yamin 'right', Aramaic תַּימנַא taymna from יָמִין yamin 'right' and Syriac ܬܰܝܡܢܳܐ taymna from ܝܰܡܝܺܢܳܐ yamina (hence the name of Yemen, the land to the south/right of the Levant). South is sometimes abbreviated as S. Navigation By convention, the ''bottom or down-f ...
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1970 Deaths
Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 14,621 are killed and 30,000 injured. * January 15 – After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafran forces under Philip Effiong formally surrender to General Yakubu Gowon, ending the Nigerian Civil War. February * February 1 – The Benavídez rail disaster near Buenos Aires, Argentina (a rear-end collision) kills 236. * February 10 – An avalanche at Val-d'Isère, France, kills 41 tourists. * February 11 – ''Ohsumi (satellite), Ohsumi'', Japan's first satellite, is launched on a Lambda-4 rocket. * February 22 – Guyana becomes a Republic within the Commonwealth of Nations. * February – Multi-business Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Virgin Group is founded as a ...
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1889 Births
Events January * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas. * January 4 – An Act to Regulate Appointments in the Marine Hospital Service of the United States is signed by President Grover Cleveland. It establishes a Commissioned Corps of officers, as a predecessor to the modern-day U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. * January 8 – Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine in the United States. * January 15 – The Coca-Cola Company is originally incorporated as the Pemberton Medicine Company in Atlanta, Georgia. * January 22 – Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C. * January 30 – Mayerling incident: Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, and his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera commit a double suicide (or a murder-suicide) at the Mayerling hun ...
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Doornkop Cemetery
Doornkop (literally "thorn hill") is a ridge and locality on the western outskirts of Soweto in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. The area is currently being subsumed by the westward expansion of Soweto and the eastward growth of Krugersdorp's Kagiso township. Suburbs include Tshepisong, Leratong Village, Bambayi and Thulani. Doornkop is also known as Thulani, Snakepark and Silvertown. There is another place named Doornkop, a community 15 km north of Middelburg in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality in Mpumalanga. History Jameson raid 1895-1896 Doornkop is the spot where Dr Leander Starr Jameson was defeated on 2 January 1896 following the Jameson Raid. Battle of Johannesburg 1900 The Doornkop area is also linked in popular history to the third day (29 May 1900) of the Battle of Johannesburg that took place nearby from 27 to 29 May 1900 during the Second Boer War. The ridge was taken by cavalry under command of Lt Gen John French while a nearby ridge, now covered by sev ...
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Transvaal Province
The Province of Transvaal (), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's geographical location to the north of the Vaal River. Its capital was Pretoria, which was also the country's executive capital. History In 1910, four British colonies united to form the Union of South Africa. The Transvaal Colony, which had been formed out of the bulk of the old South African Republic after the Second Boer War, became the Transvaal Province in the new union. Half a century later, in 1961, the union ceased to be part of the Commonwealth of Nations and became the Republic of South Africa. The PWV (Pretoria- Witwatersrand- Vereeniging) conurbation in the Transvaal, centred on Pretoria and Johannesburg, became South Africa's economic powerhouse, a position it still holds today as Gauteng Province. In 1994, after the fall o ...
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