Lily’s Bioscope is Soweto’s oldest cinema. Situated in Meadowlands Zone 2, it opened its doors in the early '60s at a time when the world-famous township was still a new settlement.
For most of its residents, the painful memories of forced removals in government trucks from Sophiatown to this bleak landscape in the shadows of goldmine dumps were still fresh and vivid. The destruction of the freehold cosmopolitan settlement started in 1955. Rose Nuku Ndlovu was born in Sophiatown in 1948. She was only seven years old when her family was relocated to Meadowlands. Before this tragedy her parents were proud owners of house number 48 on Bertha Street.
They were one of the lucky few Africans to own such a valuable property in the city at a time when the law decreed that black people were "temporary sojourners" in a white area. Based on their status of being homeowners, the government allocated the family their own four-room matchbox house in Meadowlands Zone 5. Ndlovu and her five siblings moved into house number 572 with their parents. But tragedy struck again. “My parents died in 1969 in a train fire that happened at Langlaagte station on their way to work in town.”
As the eldest, the burden of looking after her siblings fell on her shoulders. She was barely out of her teens. “I only went up to primary school and the only means of livelihood I could manage was doing menial jobs in the neighbourhood."
She says an unscrupulous head of one of the families she worked for conspired with some township councillor and they evicted the siblings from house number 572.
“Since then we have been living from one back room to the next as lodgers on other people’s properties. It has been a very difficult life. For instance, it becomes a very traumatic experience if you lose a loved one on someone’s property. Most of them frown at the thought of tenants having a funeral service on their yards. It’s a life that’s without dignity. We lived by ‘nkosi sikelela’ (God’s mercy and blessings).”
Ndlovu has lost four of her siblings, some of them due to Aids, she said. But, she also lost three of her four children.
Growing up in Soweto in the 1960s, Ndlovu says she never imagined herself living in an informal settlement at Lily’s. “This was a very classy place of entertainment. Everything about it was quality, including the leather seats that have now been ruined by vandals. For many years these now gnarled hands of mine were the ones that were peeling and cutting potatoes for Lily’s tasty fish and chips. They were very popular with those who came to watch the films.” She fondly remembers the weekend afternoon screenings as well as those that started in the late afternoon and way into midnight.
In 1996 she applied for an RDP house but was never allocated one. “I constantly checked with the authorities but every time I did that I was told to be patient.” Around 2007 the once proud and stately Lily’s was already a derelict building. The owners decided to invite desperate locals on the housing waiting list as well as foreign nationals – mostly Zimbabweans and Mozambicans – to occupy the land in exchange for rent money which was discontinued by the municipality after a year or so.
Apparently the authorities have taken over the property but for some reason didn’t think it necessary to take responsibility for its development and providing basic facilities for the residents. The Ndlovus were among the first tenants to set up shacks around the legendary movie house. Starting with 15 shacks, today Lily’s is a sprawling settlement of 185 shacks hidden from public view. Some locals are actually not aware of its existence. The overcrowding, lack of basic facilities such as electricity and running water are among the critical problems facing residents daily.
Ndlovu's monthly pension of R1,800 is pitifully little for basic needs. She must fork out R400 every month for 21l of paraffin used for cooking and boiling water with a primus stove. Every three months she must spend R500 for a small solar panel. It works with a R300 battery for lights and a radio. Taken for granted in most of the country, TV sets are virtually unknown among the children of Lily’s Bioscope.
“We are basically a forgotten people. The government has promised us houses since Nelson Mandela’s time as our president. But it seems these houses have been reserved for the lucky ones. For 24 years, I have been waiting for an RDP house and listening to promises. The government people only come here once in a while during election time. This week we received some food parcels in the form of vegetables because next month it’s by-elections. Otherwise they don’t care about us. They just want our votes. I’m making a plea to South Africans to help me get a four-room house. That’s all I’m asking for."
Marble Rakhuadzi, chairperson of the residents committee at Lily’s Bioscope, says plans are under way to launch the upgrading informal settlement project (UISP). She says the residents committee, a construction firm and ANC councillor of ward 41, Lunga Xaba, have signed a compact to this effect. “This was done on October 5and we can only hope for the best. Land surveying has been done in July and we hope that the actual construction will start early next year.”
This project may mean the end of the legendary cinema to make way for housing space. Makhuadzi and other residents of her generation – 30s – say they understand the historic value of the building but housing is a pressing need. “We are aware that it’s actually a heritage site, but people here have been waiting for proper accommodation for too long. At least the name will remain.”
Mama Rose says it would be great to refurbish the place and restore it to its former glory for the purposes of job creation. But at her age she doesn’t believe it would be realistic to wait for this project. She has heard too many promises before.
Just 4km away in another part of Soweto is Mofolo Village, home of the township’s most famous movie house. Eyethu Cinema, according to Philemon Hlatshwayo, 64, its first operator, was opened in 1969 by Ephraim “Mshengu” Tshabalala, businessman and former mayor of Soweto. Hlatshwayo even remembers the very first film screened inside this two-storey behemoth whose vast size approximates a football field. It was The Stalking Moon (1968), a western film starring Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint. “Then followed other classic Hollywood stuff like The Green Beret, Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare.”
He says that Eyethu (which means ‘ours’ in Nguni) was also the cinema that introduced local movies made for black audiences – the likes of Dingaka, Ikati Elimnyama and uDeliwe. “This is where we were introduced to black screen stars like Ken Gampu, Ndaba Mhlongo and Mabunu Sabela, who was responsible for directing most of these movies. But most memorable music concerts by international musicians happened here. The Staple Singers, The Commodores, Brook Benton and many other black artists performed here.”
Eyethu is also a stagnant venue now home to rodents. Its fate is anyone’s guess but according to Hlatshwayo, the nearby vacant land has been earmarked for development. The story is that a mall will be built there to boost the local economy and employment opportunities. Perhaps the developers will restore Eyethu Cinema to its former glory.
And indeed Soweto is not just about neglected heritage sites and informal settlements. Since the late 1980s, upmarket residential areas have claimed their place alongside the traditional matchbox houses. Neighbourhoods such as Diepkloof Extension, Orlando West Extension, Dube Village, Mapetla Extension and Protea are known for their plush mansions.
These are homes of notable Sowetans like Orlando Pirates chairman Dr Irvin Khoza, playwright Gibson Kente, medical practitioner Dr Nthato Motlana and Dr Richard Maponya – to name a few. The late businessman changed the face of retail in Soweto following the opening of Maponya Mall in 2007. The R650m retail empire is the most significant development for the township’s economy since 1994, playing a major role in job creation for local residents.
Orlando West is on the list of go-to places for tourists – with Vilakazi Street and its restaurants and curio shops the main attractions for both local and international visitors. A place of historic significance, it was home to Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the only street in the world that has produced two Nobel peace laureates. The late Godfrey Moloi, known as The Godfather of Soweto, was one of the first residents to acknowledge his neighbourhood’s tourist potential long before it became fashionable.
A bootlegger and tough man-about-town in his heydays, before his death in 1998, he was a respected citizen who distinguished himself as a film actor, musician and author. Moloi’s Blue Fountain nightclub in Mapetla and Protea Glen mansion were a popular stopover for eminent visitors that ranged from Hollywood stars to local politicians such as FW De Klerk and Pik Botha. “I don’t go to the suburbs. The people from the suburbs come to me,” he used to say. “Sowetans must learn to take pride in their own places and stop relocating to the suburbs. The real life and vibe are in Soweto.”
This vibe can be found in cultural spaces like Soweto Theatre. Since it opened in 2012, the state-of-the-art playhouse has brought world-class theatre to ordinary Sowetans.
Morris Isaacson High is another historic landmark in the black urban sprawl. Established in 1956, its most famous principal is Lekgau Mathabathe. He was in charge during the June 16 1976 student uprisings. His name has been given to a nearby street in honour of courageous leadership during a difficult time. It was during his tenure in 1974 that slain black consciousness leader Onkgopotse Abram Tiro was admitted as a staff member. It’s now history that his teachings influenced the late Tsietsi Mashinini, the leader of the uprising. But the quality education Mashinini and his generation fought for still has to be realised. A sign of hope is that there’s fierce rivalry for academic excellence among Soweto schools.
Twenty-six years since the dawn of democracy, the dynamic Soweto landscape continues to evolve in response to a changing society and its challenges while it remains the country’s trendsetter in many respects.
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