Freedom Square in Soweto

The Congress of the People was convened by the ANC and its allies to consolidate the demands of black, Indian, coloured and white anti-apartheid movements into a single document. Delegates travelled — many in defiance of pass laws and police harassment — from every corner of the country and on the second afternoon adopted, clause by clause, a charter that opens with the line ‘The People Shall Govern!’ and goes on to demand equal rights, equal pay, free education and land redistribution.

Apartheid security police surrounded the square late on the second day and shut the meeting down. The Charter was later used as evidence in the Treason Trial of 1956–61 and provided the framework for almost everything the ANC argued for over the following four decades. The 1996 South African Constitution traces directly back to its clauses.

Walter Sisulu Square was redeveloped between 2002 and 2005 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Charter. The new precinct includes a 10-metre granite Freedom Charter Monument with each of the document's clauses engraved in stone; a small museum (the Kliptown Open Air Museum) walking visitors through the day-by-day of the Congress; a hotel, retail spaces, conference facilities and a public market.

Kliptown itself is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Soweto and remains a working township. A walk around the surrounding streets with a local guide reveals a community proud of its history but openly impatient with the slow delivery of the very rights the Charter demanded — schools, sanitation, housing and land remain pressing issues. The contrast between the polished square and the streets beyond it is part of the visit.

Practical info: the square is open public space, free to visit, and the museum is open Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 17:00 for a small entry fee. Freedom Square is included on every Wanderer Soweto Tour, paired with the Hector Pieterson Memorial, Mandela House and a stop at a Vilakazi Street shebeen for lunch.