Soshanguve is a township

Township (South Africa)

In South Africa, the term township and location usually refers to the urban living areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites . Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities...

 situated about 25 km north of Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

, Gauteng

Gauteng

Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. It was established in 1974

1974 in South Africa

-January:*4 January - Harry Schwarz met with Mangosuthu Buthelezi signed the Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith, a five-point 5 point plan for racial peace in South Africa.-March:...

 on land scheduled to be incorporated into a bantustan

Bantustan

A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...

 bordering on Mabopane

Mabopane

Mabopane is a Township in South Africa. It is situated in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, in the north of Gauteng.-History:Mabopane was proclaimed in the early 1970s as a black-only residential settlement by the then puppet government of Bophuthatswana under Kgosi Dr. Lucas Mangope...

 in Bophuthatswana

Bophuthatswana

Bophuthatswana , officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana was a Bantustan – an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity – and nominal parliamentary democracy in the northwestern region of South Africa...

, to Sotho, Shangaan

Shangaan

The Tsonga people inhabit the southern coastal plain of Mozambique, parts of Zimbabwe and Swaziland, and the Limpopo Province of South Africa...

, Nguni

Nguni people

-History:The ancient history of the Nguni people is wrapped up in their oral history. According to legend they were a people who migrated from Egypt to the Great Lakes region of sub-equatorial Central/East Africa...

 and Venda

Venda

Venda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. It was founded as a homeland for the Venda people, speakers of the Venda language. It bordered modern Zimbabwe and South Africa, and is now part of Limpopo in South Africa....

 people (thus the name) who were resettled from Atteridgeville

Atteridgeville

Atteridgeville, part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, is a township located on the west of Pretoria, South Africa. It is bordered to the west by Saulsville, to the east by Proclamation Hill; to the south by Laudium and to the north by Lotus Gardens.-History:Atteridgeville was...

 and Mamelodi. It later became part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

In 2008 the population of Soshanguve was 600,000 residents. .

History

The name Soshanguve is an abbreviation for Sotho, Shangaan, Nguni, Venda, being the languages spoken at this township.

Initially Soshanguve was known as Mabopane East before the Bophuthatswana bantustan became an independent State in 1977. During 1977 Mabopne West became known as Mabopane and fell under the control of Bophuthatswana homeland while Mabopane East became known as Soshanguve which fell under the Northern Transvaal administration.

Soshanguve was the scene of riot

Riot

A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...

s related to poor service delivery in January 2006. It was also home to Smangaliso Mkhatshwa

Smangaliso Mkhatshwa

Smangaliso Mkhatshwa is a Catholic priest who was persecuted by the South African apartheid state. He later became a member of the first post-apartheid parliament and then mayor of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality...

 the Catholic Priest who was banished from Transkei

Transkei

The Transkei , officially the Republic of Transkei , was a Bantustan—an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity—and nominal parliamentary democracy in the southeastern region of South Africa...

 by the apartheid regime until he later became a member of the first post-apartheid parliament (1994) and then mayor of Tshwane. Other well known anti-apartheid actvist are Mpho Walter Molema, Thabo Makola, Tamati Matlala and Steven Makena, these were killed during 1985-1986 Struggle and thereafter the State of Emergency was declared by the apartheid Government under PW Botha.

Places of interest

• Soshanguve is home to the Tshwane University of Technology, previously known as Technikon Northern Gauteng (TNG).
• The second fab lab
  Fab lab
  A fab lab is a small-scale workshop offering digital fabrication.A fab lab is generally equipped with an array of flexible computer controlled tools that cover several different length scales and various materials, with the aim to make "almost anything"...
  
  in South Africa is located in Soshanguve Block TT where it is operated by a self-organized group of unemployed youth known as the Bright Youth Council.