Revolutionary building launched
SOPHIATOWN - "It was the place I knew, where my dreams came true, until they broke it down, Sophiatown," singer Stef Bos sings. Sophiatown is now going to be built up.
As British High Commissioner Martin Reynolds struck his spade into the ground with a thud, a cry of “Halala Sophiatown!” resounded on the grounds of the Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre.
The simple act of breaking the ground commemorated the opening of the Motswako Enterprise and Cultural Hub in Sophiatown.
Motswako means the ‘the mix’ in Tswana, and in this instance it’s meant to encompass the Sophiatown of the past, of the present and the future.
“This new building represents a place that shows South Africa is a place where people truly belong,” programme director Isaac Meletse said at the launch on 25 July.
“The building will be open 24/7 and will host a range of amazing activities, and it will be the first green community based building in South Africa.”
This amazing new building – which will share the same grounds as the Memorial Centre – was designed by young South African ‘green’ architectural firm Localstudio. The centre will be instrumental in providing jobs and training for the thousands of young people seeking enterprise and employment opportunities. It will also be the first public building in the area of Sophiatown since the removals, and will be built, using solar technology and landscaping.
The launch was host to a plethora of different people – those who had been removed from Sophiatown in 1956 watched the ceremony alongside those who had lived in the suburb for more than 50 years. Artists, writers and musicians such as trumpeter Marcus Wyatt, Dorothy Masuku and Bheki Khoza sat shoulder to shoulder with imams and bishops, politicians and activists like Abdul Bam.
“We are united in our diversity,” Meletse said in closing, and simply looking at the crowd, confirmed that.
