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Walter Sisulu Square

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Walter Sisulu Square, Soweto
Walter Sisulu Square, Soweto

Walter Sisulu Square, formally known as the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication, is located in the heart of Kliptown in Soweto, South Africa.This location was the site where, on 26 June 1955, the Congress of the People, met to draw up the Freedom Charter, an alternative vision to the repressive policies of the apartheid state. The document emphasised a non-racial society, liberty and individual rights. The Freedom Charter remains the cornerstone of African National Congress policy to this day and is seen by many as the foundation of South Africa's 1996 constitution. The square has now been declared as a national heritage site. In June 2005, former President Thabo Mbeki lit a flame of freedom in Kliptown to mark the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Charter. It is named after Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu, a political activist during the apartheid era who was a member of African National Congress and served as Secretary-General and Deputy President of the organisation. He was released from prison in 1989. The square's features include an open-air museum that explains how the Freedom Charter was written as a collaborative effort by thousands of South Africans of all races. The conical brick tower at the centre of the square is a monument to the document itself and contains the full principles of the Charter engraved in bronze.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Walter Sisulu Square (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Walter Sisulu Square
Union Avenue, Soweto Johannesburg Ward 17

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N -26.2775 ° E 27.888888888889 °
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Freedom Charter

Union Avenue
1812 Soweto, Johannesburg Ward 17
Gauteng, South Africa
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Walter Sisulu Square, Soweto
Walter Sisulu Square, Soweto
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Nearby Places

Regina Mundi Catholic Church (Soweto)
Regina Mundi Catholic Church (Soweto)

Regina Mundi (Latin for "Queen of the World"), designed by architect Anthony Noel Errol Slaven, is the largest Roman Catholic church in South Africa. It is located in Rockville, Soweto, a populous black urban residential area within the city of Johannesburg. Due to the role it played as a place of gathering for the people of Soweto in the years before, during, and after the anti-apartheid struggle, it is often referred to as "the people's church" or "the people's cathedral". The church is located in the middle of Soweto, in Rockville, in the neighbourhood of Moroka; it was built in 1964, replacing Moroka's former parish church. While the A-shaped exterior of the building is quite ordinary in design, its main feature is the vast interior, that can accommodate as many as 5000-7000 people. The stained-glass windows are decorated with scenes of Mary's life and were donated by Poland in 1998. One of the most prominent artifacts in the church is the painting entitled "The Madonna and Child of Soweto", mostly referred to as "The Black Madonna", depicting a black Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus (also black). The painting was created by artist Larry Scully in 1973, as a part of a campaign to raise funds for the education of black South Africans. The painting was then bought by a benefactor and donated to the church. A highly symbolic element of the painting is a large eye right under the Black Madonna. According to journalist Mpho Lukoto of newspaper The Star, the pupil of the eye represents the township of Soweto; two forks directed towards the pupil from the sides represent the violence that was used against the people of Soweto during the apartheid era, and the cross in the center of the pupil represents the Church that illuminates the people with hope. After the end of apartheid, a large park was built before the church, with a fountain and memorials, including a "peace pole" donated to the church by Japanese Christians. The church is still a popular place for the people of Soweto and it has also become a prominent tourist attraction in the area.