Located next to Johannesburg, Soweto is the largest group of townships in South Africa. The word Soweto stands for South West Townships.

Soweto is very important to South Africa’s history. Some of the events that led to the end of Apartheid took place here.

I started my journey at the Regina Mundi Church. In this church, members of the community would meet to share political ideas and discuss ways to end Apartheid. Churches have been places for people to come together and discuss important ideas throughout history.

I also visited the Hector Pieterson Memorial. This memorial honors a 13 year-old South African student who was shot during the Soweto Uprising. In 1976, school students began to protest the National Party’s laws that forced them to learn in Afrikaans. Most black students could not speak or read this language. Imagine going to school and having to learn in a new language you don’t know.

Students planned a peaceful protest, but police became nervous and started shooting. Hector was the first to die in the protest. News of this event spread around the world. People around the globe demanded that the South African government end Apartheid.

Hector died on Vilakazi Street in Soweto. This is also the only street in the world where two Nobel Peace Prize winners have lived: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. These two men spent most of their lives fighting for equal rights, and one became the first black president of the country.

Up Next: Music uniting the people of South Africa.

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