Ghetto

A ghetto is an area where people from a specific ethnic background or united in a given culture or religion live as a group, voluntarily or involuntarily, in milder or stricter seclusion. The word historically referred to restricted housing zones where Jews were required to live; however, it now commonly labels any poverty-stricken urban area.

South African ghettos

The Group Areas Act (27 April 1950) barred people of particular races from various urban areas.

Related Topics:
27 April - 1950

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Soweto is a mostly black urban area to the south west of Johannesburg. During the apartheid regime, Soweto was constructed for the specific purpose of housing African people who were then living in areas designated by the government for white settlement, such as the multi-racial area called Sophiatown. Today, Soweto is among the poorest parts of Johannesburg; however, there have been recent signs of economic improval and Soweto has become a centre for nightlife.

Related Topics:
Soweto - Johannesburg - Apartheid - Sophiatown

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There are other ghetto parts of South Africa like KwaMashu in Durban in the KZN province.

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