Dr. Xuma's house was one of two houses to escape the destruction of

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, It produced some of South Africa's most famous writers, musicians, politicians a ...

, South Africa by the government in the late 1950s, it is also a landmark which belonged to Dr

Alfred Bitini Xuma Alfred Bathini Xuma, OLG, commonly referred to by his initials as AB Xuma (8 March 1893 – 27 January 1962), was the first black South African to become a medical doctor, as well as a leader, activist and president-general of the African Nation ...

who was a medical doctor and the President of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

(ANC) and Chairperson of the Western Areas Anti-Expropriation and Proper Housing Committee. Construction of the house was completed in 1935 and named Empilweni which roughly translates to "the place of life". Xuma and his second wife

Madie Hall Xuma Madie Hall Xuma (3 June 1894 – 10 September 1982) was an African American educator and social activist who emigrated to South Africa. She was called a 'mother of the nation'. Her husband, A.B. Xuma, was a president of the African National Cong ...

lived there until his own property was expropriated when Sophiatown was declared a White area in terms of the Native Resettlement Act of 1954, and he had vacated it by 1957.Report to Transvaal Regional Committee, Flo Bird. 1991. 2

Design

The house is a single-storey dwelling with an entrance hall, lounge, dining room, kitchen, scullery and pantry, guest toilet, three bedrooms, a play room, two bathrooms (one en suite), and a stoep (porch). Outbuildings consist of a double garage, two rooms with a kitchenette, laundry, toilet and basin room. The house is built of red brick with a corrugated tin roof. The front elevation has curved bay windows and an arch to the entrance way, flanked by plain columns. The house was built of face brick in stretcher bond to the window level, with a plastered section above. An unusual feature is the bracketed lean-to canopy which extends the full front of the house providing a separate covering for the bays.Report to Transvaal Regional Committee, Flo Bird. 1991. 3 The house was a mansion in the Sophiatown of its day. The house occupied two stands whereas most of his neighbours were in terrace or semi-detached housing. The writer, actor and journalist

Bloke Modisane William Modisane (28 August 1923 – 1 March 1986), better known as Bloke Modisane, was a South African writer, actor and journalist. Biography