Living Historically through Photographs in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Reflections on Kliptown Museum, Soweto

Abstract

Established at the beginning of the twentieth century, Kliptown is among the oldest of the urban settlements that comprise the vast township of Soweto, which lies to the south-west of Johannesburg. Together with townships such as Sophiatown and Alexandra, Kliptown was one of the few places in South Africa where blacks could own property, and for the first part of the century it was home to a rich mix of different cultural and racial groups. Its national historical significance derives, however, from the mass political gathering that took place there on an abandoned patch of land during two days in June 1955. The Congress of the People was convened by a coalition of anti-apartheid organizations led by the African National Congress (ANC), known as the Congress Alliance. Other members of the alliance were the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Trade Unions, the Coloured People’s Congress and the Congress of Democrats. The meeting represented the culmination of a year’s work gathering views from across the country and across racial lines that were synthesized into a declaration of political values and human rights to form the basis of collective opposition to apartheid. Nearly 3000 delegates were elected to attend the meeting in Kliptown, which would ratify the final form of what was known as the Freedom Charter.