Soshanguve

Soshanguve (So=Sotho, Sha=Shangani, Ngu=Nguni and Ve=Venda) formerly known as Mabopane East, is a township situated about 30 km north of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The name Soshanguve is an acronym for SOtho, SHAngaan, NGUni and VEnda, thus showing the multi-ethnic composition of the population (Mashabela 1988:138). The major African languages of South Africa are heard in Soshanguve.

Soshanguve
Soshanguve Show map of Gauteng Soshanguve Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 25°31′25″S 28°6′0″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Municipality	City of Tshwane
Area [1]
• Total	126.77 km2 (48.95 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	403,162
• Density	3,200/km2 (8,200/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	99.2%
• Coloured	0.3%
• Indian/Asian	0.1%
• White	0.1%
• Other	0.4%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Northern Sotho	28.2%
• Tswana	16.7%
• Tsonga	15.1%
• Zulu	13.6%
• Venda	26.5%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	0152
PO box	0164
Area code	012

The acronym divided the Soshanguve residents according to their tribe when they were resettled from Mamelodi and Atteridgeville in 1974. While this was to make admin easy for the apartheid government, it left a community divided and suspicious of each other. More than 20 years later, there are still remnants of the past but there is integration of cultures. The people of Soshanguve arguably are the most multilingual of South Africans.

Tswaing, meaning Place of Salt in Setswana, is a 2000-hectare heritage site, some 40 km north-west of Central Pretoria, surrounded by settlements inhabited by more than a million people, such as Winterveld, Soshanguve, Mabopane and Eersterus, near Hammanskraal.