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 separate municipality, it is now incorporated in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and is one of the suburbs of Johannesburg.
Johannesburg is the most populous city in South Africa with 4,803,262 people, and is classified as a megacity; it is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa. Johannesburg is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa. Most of the major South African companies and banks have their head offices in Johannesburg. The city is located within the mineral-rich Witwatersrand hills, the epicentre of the international-scale mineral, gold and (specifically) diamond trade.
Sophiatown, also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a poor multi-racial area and a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid. It produced some of South Africa's most famous writers, musicians, politicians and artists, like Father Huddleston, Can Themba, Bloke Modisane, Es'kia Mphahlele, Arthur Maimane, Todd Matshikiza, Nat Nakasa, Casey Motsisi, Dugmore Boetie, and Lewis Nkosi.
The Mayor of Johannesburg is the highest elected position in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Since 2000, they are the chief executive of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality council. The position remained vacant from 24 April 2023, when Thapelo Amad announced his resignation after less than three months in office. On 16 August 2024, the council elected Dada Morero to the position.
The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite services for the city. Zulu is the most spoken home language at 23.4% followed by English at 20.1%.
Teboho "Tsietsi" MacDonald Mashinini born in Jabavu, Soweto, South Africa, died in the summer of 1990 in Conakry, Guinea, and buried in Avalon Cemetery, was the main student leader of the Soweto Uprising that began in Soweto and spread across South Africa in June, 1976.
Mpho Franklyn Parks Tau is a South African politician who was appointed as Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition from 3 July 2024.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province in South Africa.
Naledi High School is a government secondary school at 892 Nape Street in Soweto. The school took an important role at the start of the Soweto Uprising in 1976.
Lael Bethlehem is an expert in urban development. She was director of economic development at the City of Johannesburg from 2002 to 2005 and chief executive of the Johannesburg Development Agency from 2005 to 2010. Prior to those roles, she also served as Chief Director of Forestry at the South African National Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, where she led South Africa’s forestry programme and represented the country in international forestry negotiations. Today, Bethlehem is an investment executive at Hosken Consolidated Investments.
M. K. Gandhi is a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi Square, Johannesburg, which depicts the Indian independence campaigner and nonviolent pacifist as a young man.
Herman Samtseu Philip Mashaba is a South African politician, entrepreneur and the current president of ActionSA, a party he launched on 29 August 2020. He served as the Mayor of Johannesburg from 2016 to 2019. He is the founder of the hair product company Black Like Me. He is famous in South Africa for his background: he grew up struggling against poverty, and claims to have struggled against the apartheid government, to open his own hair business, which became the biggest hair brand in South Africa, making him a millionaire. He publicly backed Mmusi Maimane in the Democratic Alliance leadership race. He wrote the autobiography Black Like You and his campaign manager, Michael Beaumont, recently published a biography called "The Accidental Mayor". A biography of Mashaba later published by Prince Mashele was referred to as "unauthorised" until it controversially emerged that Mashaba himself had paid Mashele R12.5million for the project. Mashaba refers to himself as a libertarian and "capitalist crusader" whose highest value is "individual freedom."
Joburg Theatre Complex, previously known as the Johannesburg Civic Theatre, is a group of four theatres situated in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1962, refurnished in the late 1980s and reopened in the early 1990s before it was re-branded in 2009. It is a venue that stages both Broadway musicals and home-grown productions, and is one of the few theatres open in Johannesburg for independent productions.
Moloantoa Geoffrey Makhubo was a South African politician who served as the Mayor of Johannesburg from December 2019 until his death from COVID-19 in July 2021. He was a member of the African National Congress and the party's regional chair. During the administration of Parks Tau, he served as the MMC for Finance.
Jolidee Matongo was a South African politician who served as the mayor of Johannesburg from 10 August 2021 until his death on 18 September 2021. Prior to his election as mayor, he served as the member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for finance under his predecessor, Geoff Makhubo, who died from COVID-19 complications. Matongo was a member of the African National Congress.
Ntombi Valencia Khumalo is a South African politician who served as a member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2021 to 2024. She is a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Mpho Louisa Phalatse is a South African medical doctor and politician who was the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. A member of the Democratic Alliance, she served in the position from 22 November 2021 until her ousting in a motion of no-confidence on 26 January 2023. She is the first woman to serve as mayor of the metropolitan municipality, which was established in 2000. She is the first black woman to serve as mayor of the city of Johannesburg and only the second female mayor of the city after Jessie McPherson, who served from 1945 to 1946.
Sello Enoch Dada Morero is a South African politician who has been the Mayor of Johannesburg since 16 August 2024, a position which he previously held for 25 days, from 30 September 2022 until 25 October 2022 when the erstwhile Mayor, Mpho Phalatse, was reinstated through the courts. Morero is the regional chairperson of the African National Congress in Johannesburg.
Matshidiso Morwa Annastinah Mfikoe is a South African politician who has served as a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature since February 2023. A member of the African National Congress, she previously served as a member of the National Assembly from October 2022 to January 2023 and before that, as a councillor in the City of Johannesburg from 2000 to 2022 and as a member of the mayoral committee from 2006 to 2016 and again in 2021.
Thapelo Amad is a South African politician and imam, and a former mayor of Johannesburg. A member of the Johannesburg City Council, Amad is affiliated with the Al Jama-ah party. On 27 January 2023, he was elected mayor of Johannesburg with the support of the African National Congress (ANC). His election made him the first Muslim to serve as mayor of Johannesburg. He resigned as mayor on 24 April 2023 to avoid being defeated in a motion of no confidence.
