May 19, 2006
By Tammy O'Reilly
THE small group of people following Uncle Soles around the property of the Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre all agree that he is a jolly character.
At 78 years old, he is dressed meticulously in a dark grey suite, beige shoes and cap, and a blue tie with grapes that reads, "Not yet mature". He walks ahead of everyone else, taking small quick steps, and keeping his fists clenched to his sides. Every few metres he stops and turns to explain what he remembers of the place from when he was just 11 years old.
"See there," he says pointing to a strip of grass along the side of a building. "This is where I used to play. There used to be a tap over there and we sold water to the residents," he says walking in the direction that he is still pointing.
He is visibly delighted to find the tap still there, even though it is minus its handle.
There is no spot on the property that he doesn't know. From the headmaster's office that he "used to visit regularly" and the second storey window that he fell out of, to the veranda that he and his friends lined up on every second Saturday for their dose of Epsom salts.
As entertaining as his stories may be, they also play an extremely important part in keeping the history of Sophiatown alive. Uncle Soles was one of 30 boys who lived on the premises when it was still St Joseph's Home, an orphanage founded in 1917 as a memorial to the coloured men of the Transvaal who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Great War of 1914 to 1918.
The home is now the Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre, named in memory of the anti-apartheid churchman. It is located in the recently renamed Sophiatown and is one of the few original buildings left in the area. Most of the suburb's buildings were bulldozed during the forced removals in the middle of the last century.
Heritage
The centre is working with local partners to co-ordinate an 18-month programme of projects aimed at capturing the remaining heritage of Sophiatown. This is done by engaging with those who lived there at the time of the forced removals, which began in 1954 and continued until 1962.
According to Sophiatown tour guide Clement Baai, the suburb was initially a 237-acre plot bought by Herman Tobiansky in 1897 for his wife Sophia. He built small houses on his plot and rented them out to whites only. When the government decided to build a sewerage works nearby, it repelled white tenants and Tobiansky began letting out the houses indiscriminately.
The homes were taken up by blacks, coloured, Chinese and Indians and became one of a handful of places where people of colour could own homes. The place became renowned for its character, entertainment and gangs.
"The place was an eyesore for the apartheid government and Hendrik Verwoerd, the then minister of native affairs, passed the Group Areas Act that ensured even people of colour would not be allowed to interact with each other on this level," Baai said.
They were given notice to relocate by 12 February 1955, but the authorities got wind of a planned protest against the removal on that day, and instead the army and police bombarded the area on 9 February and forcibly removed the residents. Most of the black residents were taken to Meadowlands, the coloured people were moved to Eldorado Park and Coronationville and the Indians and Chinese were moved to Vrededorp, Pageview and the inner city.
The memories of musician Tandie Klaasens
Through stories being told by people like Uncle Soles, the centre is able to keep a record of and get an accurate feel of what it was like to live in Sophiatown all those years ago.
"I think people are so engrossed in places like Soweto – which is understandable because it is an area that is very much part of our history – that we tend to forget that there are so many other places in the country that hold just as much importance," says Elizabeth Jansen van Vuuren, a co-director of the tour operating company, Cultural Encounters.
About 50 interviews have taken place with people who were linked to Sophiatown. Their stories have been recorded, transcribed and in some cases filmed. A photographic project in partnership with the Market Photo Workshop has taken place and guides have been trained in the area's history.
"Apart from the project being a nice way of preserving the history of this place, we have found that for many, talking about their experiences is a way of healing," Jansen van Vuuren adds.
Uncle Soles echoes this when he says he remembers St Joseph's Home and Sophiatown as "a heaven and not a haven".
"I was brought up by loving people who took me through the phases first of understanding, then of reality and finally responsibility but when we were moved we lost our faith in human beings and it left our hearts very sore," he says. "But I am happy to see that the history of this place lives on. I only hope it can be immortal."
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