Zola is a section of the

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 ...

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

lying south of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

Gauteng 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. A number of well-known public figures, mostly musicians call Zola their home and were born and bred there. Zola is in the west of Soweto and is also known as Mzambiya (Zambia) or Mashona (west side). It is surrounded by the townships of Tladi, Naledi, Dobsonville, Emndeni, Jabulani and Moletsane. The musicians Mongezi and his wife, the late

Margaret Singana Margaret Singana (193822 April 2000), born Margaret M'cingana, was a South African musician. She is perhaps best known for her Xhosa song, "Hamba Bhekile". An English version of the song, "We Are Growing" was used as soundtrack to the South Afric ...

, stayed in Zola before they got a house in Jabulani location which is also near Zola. Mdu Masilela,

Mandoza Mduduzi Edmund Tshabalala (17 January 1978 – 18 September 2016), also known as Mandoza, was a South African kwaito recording artist. He was known for his contributions to the Kwaito genre and his numerous hit singles, including "Nkalakatha", ...

, Mshoza, Mzambiya, Brown Dash, Mapaputsi, and

Zola Zola may refer to: People * Zola (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * Zola (musician) (born 1977), South African entertainer * Zola (rapper), French rapper * Émile Zola, a major nineteenth-century French writer Plac ...

were all born in Zola. Soccer legends like Shoes of

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

, Ace Mnini of Moroka Swallows, and Ree Skhosana of Moroka Swallows were all from Zola.

Brenda Fassie Brenda Nokuzola Fassie (3 November 1964 – 9 May 2004) was a South African singer, songwriter, dancer and activist. Affectionately called MaBrrr by her fans, she is also known as the "Queen of African Pop", the " Madonna of The Townships" or s ...

also lived in Zola in the early 1980s. Zola is one of the most popular townships in Soweto and famous throughout South Africa for its notorious gangsters in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Gangsters like 11 Boys in the 1960s, Maumaus in the 1970s, and Chivas and Big18s in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It is a popular tourist destination. The Famous historical schools from Zola are Zola Higher Primary School, Dr. Vilakazi and Lavela Secondary School. An upcoming school is Kwadedangendlale Senior Secondary School with good pass rates.

References

Johannesburg Region D Soweto Townships {{Gauteng-geo-stub