Early Johannesburg developed from a tent camp to iron shanties, to low brick buildings and in doing so many slumyards were created, they were squalid and overcrowded. Described in 1903 by the Medical Officer of Health as follows “They consist of narrow courtyards containing dilapidated and dirty tin huts without adequate means of ventilation, huddled on an area and constructed without any regard to sanitary considerations of any kind.  In the middle of each a slop-sodden and filth bestrewn yard there is a well from which the people get their water supply and they choose this place for washing purposes and urinals.  It is as crowded as a rabbit warren.  I shudder to think what would occur if plague or cholera broke out in that place.  These places are dark dens.”

Many attempts were made to get rid of these slumyards, at the same time Apartheid  began to rear it’s head.  It was not called this at the time but it was aimed at the separation of the races.

In 1904 with an outbreak of plague the authorities used this as an opportunity to burn down the so-called ‘coolie location’ on the site where the Braamfontein shunting yards are today.  They moved 600 Indian and 1358 African residents to Klipspruit 13 kilometres from Johannesburg .
From 1905 it became illegal for African people to reside in Johannesburg except for domestic servants and workers housed in industrial compounds by their firms. Sanitary conditions in the inner-city slums were cause for concern, and disease was rife, however the conditions in Klipspruit were even more unhealthy than those in the slums.  Mortality rate was 380 babies out of every 1000.

Travel to Johannesburg was limited and expensive not surprisingly slum dwellers resisted the moves and employers also objected since it caused workers to be late for work and they were not available for overtime work.

By 1919, 105 000 Africans lived in Johannesburg.  Of these, approximately half were employed and housed by the mines, 30 000 domestic workers lived on the premises of their white employers, while only 4 000 lived in municipal locations and compounds such as Klipspruit.  The remaining 17 000 workers lived in slums.  By 1927 over 40,000  people lived in the unregulated, unhygienic and boisterous world of slums.

In 1931 Orlando was constructed again the prime consideration was the distance away from white urban areas.  During the 1930’s African slumyard populaton were forcibly removed to the townships. Until this time it was mainly men who moved to Johannesburg on a migrant basis.  A survey in 1946 revealed that between 1936 and 1944, 50% of jobs of African workers lasted less than 12 months and only 10% more than two years.  This meant that the labour force replaced itself every 20 months.  In 1900 of  60 000 Africans in the city the ratio of males to females was12:1  By 1927 with a population of 136 000 the ratio was 6:1  At the outbreak of war the ratio was 3:1 and by 1967 it was equal..  When women did migrate to the towns it was overwhelmingly on a permanent basis.

By the end of the war Johannesburg’s black population increased by over half a million.  Few new houses were built during this time because of the war effort. So overcrowding became extreme.
Amidst this crisis James Sofasonke Mpanza emerged, he was to change the course of the township’s history.  He was a remarkable flamboyant man and could be the subject of a paper on his own.

On 20 March 1944 perched on a horse he led the sub-tenants of Orlando across the river to Orlando West where 1500 people erected shacks in an area known as Msakeng – ‘ the place of sacks’.  From a start of 500 families and 250 shacks it grew at an average of 300 families per day.  James Mpanza controlled all aspects of the squatter camp and took over what should have been the responsibility of the Council.  He employed 28 of his own policemen, set up his own courts and meted out punishments. He boasted that this was the only crime free area in Soweto.  He and his committee also saw to the day-to-day needs of the people.

In January, 1946 Mpanza led a second wave, this time 3 000 subtenants  to the half completed houses the Council was building in Orlando West.

The squatters were evicted several times and simply moved to a new site.  The Council had Mpanza arrested and deported to the farm where he came from, he contested the deportation order and was released. He returned to Orlando in triumph.

Events, including riots and further ‘invasions’ caused the Council to establish an emergency camp at Jabavu and after further rioting a camp Moroka, which became one of South Africa’s worst slums.  The life span of the camp was intended to be no more than five years, during which time the population would be moved to proper housing , instead the population grew to 89 000 including Jabavu.

Bear in mind that all of this was prior to the election of the Nationalist Party (Apatheid) Government in 1948.  Although 7 000 houses were built in the two or three years following the election, very little was accomplished in the years that followed..  Because of financial pressures housing loans evaporated.  In 1950 the Government introduced a scheme to lease land to Africans to erect their own houses.  This was dubbed Vukuzenzele meaning ‘wake up and do it yourself’.  By 1952 not a single house had been built because of disagreements between the Council and Government.  Then a plan for the construction of the Four roomed (NE51/6) plan was produced and the Bantu Building Workers Act was passed enabling black artisans to build in designated black areas and the 2/6d levy per employee on employers enabled the provision of basic services.

The Government laid down stringent rules regarding the site and service schemes and the JCC had no option but to agree.  In 1955, 10 000 serviced sites were opened up, Allowing thousands of Moroka residents to be remove.

In 1956 the townships of Tladi, Zondi, Dhlamini, Chiawelo, and Senoane wre laid out to provide 28 888 people with accommodation.  Following year Jabulani, Phiri, and Naledi followed.  Not withstanding all this the housing fell short of what was required.to clear the back log.

Then Sir Ernest Oppenheimer was taken by Wilhelm Carr to visit Moroka. His reaction was to get the mining industry to loan the city R6 million and a massive housing programme was launched.  By the end of 1959 24 000 houses had been built. At the same time Meadowlands was opened to accommodate the people evicted from Sophiatown in accordance with the Government policy
Up to 1959 there was no collective name for the township, and a competition was launched to settle on a name many names were suggested and they reflect the feelings of the people, but after four years the safe name of SOWETO ( South Western Township) was selected.