Soshanguve, also called Sosha, is a township situated about 30 km north of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, just east of Mabopane. The name Soshanguve is an acronym for Sotho, Shangaan, Nguni and Venda, thus showing the multi-ethnic composition of the population. The major African languages of South Africa are heard in Soshanguve.
Soshanguve | |
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Soshanguve Soshanguve Soshanguve | |
Coordinates: 25°31′25″S 28°6′0″E / 25.52361°S 28.10000°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Gauteng |
Municipality | City of Tshwane |
Main Place | Pretoria |
Area | |
• Total | 126.77 km2 (48.95 sq mi) |
Population (2023)[1] | |
• Total | 906,000 |
• Density | 7,100/km2 (19,000/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 99.2% |
• Coloured | 0.3% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.1% |
• White | 0.1% |
• Other | 0.4% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Northern Sotho | 28.2% |
• Tswana | 16.7% |
• Tsonga | 15.1% |
• Zulu | 13.6% |
• Other | 26.5% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 0152 |
PO box | 0164 |
Area code | 012 |
It was formerly known as Mabopane East.[2] The acronym divided the Soshanguve residents according to their tribe when they were resettled from Mamelodi and Atteridgeville in 1974.[3] While this was to make administration easy for the apartheid government, it left a community divided and suspicious of each other.[citation needed] More than 20 years later, there are still remnants of the past but there is integration of cultures.[citation needed] The people of Soshanguve arguably are the most multilingual of South Africans.
The people of Soshanguve speak Pretoria Sotho called Se Pitori and listen to local music genres called Barcadi & Amapiano.
Soshanguve is home to Tshwane University of Technology's Soshanguve North & South Campuses & Tshwane north college (TNC) which draw their students from every corner of the country.