A history of socio-economic change in Sharpeville, South Africa, 1940-2020s

Abstract

Sharpeville is one of the oldest of six townships in the Vaal Triangle, located between Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging in southern Gauteng, South Africa. The construction of houses in Sharpeville began in 1942, when people were relocated from the "Top Location" to an area further removed from the central business district of Vereeniging. Famous for the massacre of civilians by the apartheid government on 19 March 1960, the Sharpeville Massacre is commemorated, remembered, and celebrated as a pivotal event in South Africa's political history. While Sharpeville has been contextualised in national and international politics and received substantial academic attention, there remains a notable gap in historical analysis regarding its role in the development of the region. This thesis addresses this gap by incorporating contemporary history, unpacking not only how residents practised agency in making homes under the constraints of apartheid social engineering mechanisms but also how they reshaped their homes after 1994. This thesis uses oral history methods to enunciate the histories often neglected by academics who are traditionally fixated on the massacre. Guided by a history from the below approach, the thesis traces people's social and economic experiences in Top Location and how the lengthy process of forced removals disrupted and changed resident's lives. The forced removal from the Top Location and the lengthy process of displacement disrupted and changed residents' lives. The thesis highlights how residents circumvented or mitigated the impact of apartheid in their homes and communities. Fundamentally, it focuses on ways in which music, sport, recreational activities, religion, and ubuntu fostered a sense of homeliness and belonging. The ongoing development of the Vaal River City is seen as a 21st-century victory for humanity. It serves not only as a bridge construction and a post-apartheid housing scheme but also as a symbol of how Sharpeville residents, once confined to a Group Areas zone, are now able to access the former White suburbs and purchase property of their choice. Township tourism, which attracts visitors from Europe, America and Asia, is seen as a symbolic bridge or connection with Sharpeville's rich history, which encompasses tangible and intangible symbols, people, infrastructure, vibrance and culinary culture for the economic and social benefit of the residents The thesis contributes to the neglected historiography of Sharpeville by examining the area's post-1994 social history, which reflects continuities, discontinuities, parallels, and paradigm shifts. It further conceptualises processes embedded in Sharpeville's evolution, the reconstruction of past and present lifeways, and particularly the merging and uniting of Black and White communities and spaces following the 1994 democratic elections.