Does property mean prosperity for Soweto?
Soweto has long been a pertinent part of Johannesburg’s (and South Africa’s) history. To live in Soweto is to experience every aspect of its chequered past. It can also, however, mean looking into Its future, given the notable rise in property price growth in and around the township.
The formation South West Townships of Johannesburg was catalysed by the relocation of black inhabitants from the shanty town of Brickfields to the Klipspruit area (of which Pimville was a part) in the mid-1900s. In the 1930s, the large number of black settlers in Johannesburg led to a greater demand for housing, eventually built in Orlando, the first township in Soweto.
Given the increasing numbers of black settlers moving to the area, more and more settlements were included. The implementation of Apartheid in 1948 led to black residents in areas such as Sophiatown, Alexandra and Martindale being relocated to Meadowlands, Dube, Rockville and Diepkloof. Eventually, in 1963, the Johannesburg City Council officially decided on Soweto as the name for this vast township.
The Soweto Uprising of 1976 was a watershed moment in bringing Apartheid to international attention. The SA government’s response, however, was to provide electricity to more Soweto-based homes but discontinue financial support for housing in the area.
Soweto went through almost two more decades of socio-political upheaval after this event, even after it became an independent municipality in 1983. After SA’s transition to a democratically elected government, Soweto was made part of the Southern Metropolitan Transitional Local Council in 1995 and incorporated into the City of Johannesburg in 2002.
Soweto has become a place of cultural vibrancy as well as historical relevance. Now, it seems, its also a promising place for the property market. When FNB announced its house price indices for Gauteng in 2017’s last quarter, John Loos (a property strategist for the bank) noted, “the Diepkloof/Soweto/Meadowlands/Pimville region remains the highest estimated house price growth region at 13.88% year-on-year.” In fact, the area was shown as having the strongest cumulative growth in house pricing (at 52.42%) since the end of 2012.
This is in stark contrast to falling house prices in Sandton, also reflected in FNB’s report. Such news is indeed promising for Soweto, which might one day replace Sandton as Johannesburg’s swankiest place to be.
