Dobsonville Gardens, Soweto

Dobsonville gardens was formed under the Roodeport Municipality until 1994, when it was merged with Soweto. Dobsonville is an important but understudied suburb of Soweto. Its roots lie in the "old location" in Roodepoort. Between 1955 and 1967 this location was gradually destroyed through government forced removals. The old location was known for the strong presence and influence of many churches. While the removals were not particularly noted for resistance (perhaps because of the violence with which resistance to removals was met with in Sophiatown), the links between the old location and Dobsonville remained strong and emotive.

The cemetery of the old location in Roodepoort West for example maintained a physical link between old and new location. While some heritage projects and research around the histories of the old Roodepoort location were undertaken, there has been little work on the history of Dobsonville itself. More than a 100 oral testimonies of Dobsonville residents have been collected by researchers from the Wits History Workshop (University of Witwatersrand) for their Dobsonville History Project. However some oral interviews remain unpublished. See " Return to Juliwe Cemetery: A Community Journey" Article by Eric Itzkin 6 April 2019. The Research was conducted by Wits History Workshop Researchers: 1. Prof. Phil Bonner. 2. Dr. Michelle Hay. 3. Mr. Sello Mathabatha. 4. Dr. Tshepo Moloi. 5. Prof. Noor Nieftagodien. 6. Mr Muzomuhle Caluza.(Intern)