Meadowlands is a suburb 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 s ...

Gauteng Province Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1. ...

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 countri ...

. It was founded in the early 1950s during the

apartheid era 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 ...

for black residents from

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "apart ...

History

Meadowlands also known as Ndofaya has its origin with the introduction of the '' Natives Resettlement Act, Act No 19 of 1954'' with its aim to move black people out of the centre of Johannesburg from multi-cultural areas such as Sophiatown and the Western Native Townships. The Urban Resettlement Board was created and the forced removals began on 10 February 1955 and would continue until the mid-sixties when most of the new township had been completed. Early residents were separated into new zones of the township based on their ethnic background and identifiable by the street names. The Johannesburg City Council, at the time controlled by the United Party, did not participate in the forced removals but did provide extra land in

Diepkloof Diepkloof is a large zone of Soweto township in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is also sometimes referred to as Diepmeadow, if considered as a single township with the nearby Meadowlands (although there is Orlando in between). Diepkloo ...

when space ran out in Meadowlands when black people from the suburbs of Martindale and Newclare needed areas to settle. The Johannesburg City Council did not control the area as it did with

, but would be made to cover the cost of the relocations. By 1968, the Natives Resettlement Board had relocated 22,500 black families and 6,500 single persons in both Meadowlands and Diepkloof and would administer both areas as they had not yet been allocated to any white municipality. The forced move away from Sophiatown inspired Strike Vilakazi to compose '' Meadowlands''. As with many other protest songs of this period, ''Meadowlands'' was made popular both within and outside South Africa by

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, jazz, a ...

. By 1973, now known as Diepmeadow, the administration was taken over by the West Rand Administration Board (WRAB) and by 1978, a Diepmeadows Town Council was formed to run the two townships when they decided not to join Soweto Council.

Notable South Africans From Meadowlands

Sindi Dlathu Sindiswa Dlathu (born January 4, 1974) is a South African people, South African actress and musician. She is well known for portraying Thandaza Mokoena on ''Muvhango'', a role she played from the show's inception in 1997 until her departure in 2 ...

, actress known for her role as Lindiwe Dikana on The River. Lived in Zone 10. *

Vusi Kunene Vusi Kunene is a South African actor, best known for his role as Jack Mabaso in '' Generations'' and its continuation, '' Generations: The Legacy'', Funani Zwide in House of Zwide, Bhekifa in Isibaya(2012-2016),Jefferson Sibeko in Isidingo(2009 ...

, actor *

Thandiswa Mazwai Thandiswa Nyameka Mazwai (born 31 March 1976) is a South African musician, and is also the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bongo Maffin. She is also known as King Tha. Her debut album ''Zabalaza'' (2004), which attained double platinum status ...

, singer. Lived some years in her childhood in Meadowlands *

Kgalema Motlanthe Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (; born 19 July 1949) is a South African politician who was South Africa's third president of South Africa, president between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009, following Thabo Mbeki's resignation. Thereafter, he was depu ...

, third president of South Africa. Lived in Zone 8. *

Rapulana Seiphemo Rapulana Seiphemo (born 4 November 1967) is a South African actor and filmmaker. He is primarily known for his role as Tau Mogale in the long-running soap opera '' Generations'' and its continuation, '' Generations: The Legacy''. Early life He ...

, actor * Sibusiso Vilakazi,

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football l ...

soccer player.

References

{{City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, selected=regd Johannesburg Region D Townships in Gauteng Soweto Townships