Soweto: transformation of a city

Often seen as the heart of South African football, 'Soccer City,' now FNB Stadium, was built for the 2010 World Cup, on the site of the previous stadium. But it's not only famous for sport. It was here that in 1990, thousands gathered to celebrate Nelson Mandela's release from prison and listen to him speak. In 2013, Mandela's funeral was held here.

As well as accommodating the working class, Soweto was also home to anti-apartheid activists including Nelson Mandela. He lived in one of the dwellings built by the government for black workers, known as ‘matchbox’ houses for their small size and uniform design. ‘It was the opposite of grand, but it was my first true home of my own and I was mightily proud,' Mandela wrote in his autobiography.

The Soweto uprising has its roots in the city's classrooms. In 1976, the government issued a ruling enforcing the Afrikaans langauge in schools. Hardly anyone in the majority black townships could speak what they saw as the language of the oppressor. School pupils took to the streets in protest against the ruling and the whole Bantu education system, which extended apartheid to schools.

Soweto’s Maponya Mall is one of the largest shopping centers in South Africa, opened by Nelson Mandela in 2007. The hugely expensive development was designed to generate wealth and jobs, but it also caused controversy by forcing small enterprises and shopkeepers out of business. The mall was built by Richard Maponya, one of South Africa’s first black millionaires, who still lives in Soweto.

Thousands of black students spilled onto Soweto's streets in a march which became a turning point for South Africa's struggle for liberation from apartheid. When the protestors refused to disperse, the police opened fire. An estimated 176 young people were killed on June 16 1967. The protest started a wave of resistance - and violence - around the country.

Originally part of a coal fired power station, the Orlando Towers are now covered in colorful murals depicting township culture.The power station was constructed in the 1930s to provide electricity to the white suburbs and downtown Johannesburg. Black South Africans flocked to the South West Townships to work in the mining industry. Later, many others were 'relocated' there under apartheid.

Soweto’s first theatre opened in 2012. Its striking architecture and extensive cultural program are a marker of how the city has changed. The colorfully tiled structure is home to three auditoriums, and designed to reflect the diversity of the city’s residents. Public funds paid for more than half of the cost of building the theatre, as part of a prestigious regeneration project.

Among the first to die in the uprising was 13-year-old Hector Pieterson, who was shot by police. The photograph of a local boy carrying his body, alongside his sister, was published in newspapers around the world the following day, sparking outrage and bringing international attention to the injustices of apartheid. Today, a memorial stands not far from where Pieterson was shot.

The only street in the world to have housed two Nobel Prize winners: Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu both lived on Soweto's Vilakazi Street. Thanks to a government development project, it has now become one of South Africa's top tourist destinations. An estimated eight percent of visitors to South Africa tour the "South Western Townships" - more than 700.000 annually.

Despite the extensive investment projects which have transformed the city from the ghetto it once was, some say hope has given way to disillusion. But poverty and poor education remain problems in Soweto. Many say that 40 years after the uprising, the struggle for equality is far from over.