Noor Nieftagodien

Orlando West Soweto An Illustrated History by Noor Nieftagodien and Sally Gaule. ( Wits University Press, 2012).
Orlando West has a significant urban history. For many it is synonymous with the struggle history of Soweto and most specifically the role of its people and its high school children in the 1976 student uprising. Vilakazi St was the home of two Nobel Prize laureates, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.
This work is the product of a local history project but in the quality of the writing, the synthesis of the work of a research team into a professional history of Orlando and the combination of many contemporary black and white historical photographs together with current colour photographs in a photo essay, the work rises above the amateur quality of so many community histories and makes a significant contribution to the history of Soweto and Johannesburg. The work falls into two parts. The author of the ten chapters on the history of Orland, Noor Nieftagodien of the Wits History Department and the History Workshop has pulled together the interviews of over 40 long term residents of Orlando to tell the story of the origins of Orlando, its evolution through the urbanizing decades, the start of the uprising and the follow through to real change and revolution. Sport, schooling, religious , work family and social life are all dimensions discussed with the interviewees. The work captures memories in the strong individual voices of citizens and speaks to the pride of the citizens of Soweto. There is a helpful map of Soweto and a basic bibliography for further reading. The second part of the book is the photo essay of the photographer, Sally Gaule of the Wits School of Architecture and Planning. Sally is known for intimacy and insight in her photographs of both people and landscape. She walked the streets of Orlando and was often spontaneously invited into the homes of people she met. The warmth and the hospitality of the encounter is captured and you are invited to share a transitory moment of life. The project also gave rise to a documentary on the history of Orlando. The book lacks an index and there is no explicit link between the first written section of the book and the latter photographic essay. A short biography of the interviewees would have enriched the text and while the well chosen black and white photographs capture time and period, photographs of the interviewees would have enhanced the documentary evidence. In Ms Gaule’s photo essay, each photograph should be labeled and dated, again to stress the documentary value. This work will appeal to visitors as it is a superior souvenir and Africana collectors or Johannesburg people will welcome the addition to their libraries. It is a book that has an instant message for anyone browsing and that is, visit Soweto and come spend a few hours in Orlando West.

K A Munro.… (altro)