Sophiatown: A Township with a Difference

Sophiatown in Johannesburg was named after the wife of the developer, Herman Tobiansky, who also named streets after his children. He bought the land in 1899 with the view to developing a white suburb, but when the town council decided to put a sewage works next door, Tobiansky had difficulties offloading the plots and started selling to whoever was interested. Sophiatown was one of the few places where people of any race could own freehold land at a time when residential areas were increasingly being segregated. Read more on the history of Sophiatown...