Soweto '76 - '06 - Joy Denalane

We’re at auntie Jane’s house

When the first shots were fired

Tandi heard her call her name

She’d gone out playing

There’s about to be a riot

This is Orlando West

It’s June '76

There’s guns in the streets again

They got Peterson

That’s how you sentenced to live

In Soweto

Streets that burn, a bullet flies

A mood that turns, a schoolkid dies

This is part of daily life

In Soweto

The bloodshed on these dusty roads

Carried by the wind that blows

Through the Ghetto

The Ghetto, Ghetto of Soweto

This is auntie Nancy’s house

She’s about to do Karabo’s laundry now

He nearly missed the train this time

She found his papers lying

Down on the ground

'84 in Diepkloof

Somebody saw him there

They got him in chains

Taking his name

And then took him to John-Voster-Square

He’s in the street, with no ID

That’s against the law, now he’s behind the bars

And they treat it like it never was

In Soweto

The bloodshed on the dusty roads

Carried by the wind that blows

Through the Ghetto

It should have been a joyous day

They gathered at auntie Eve’s

The daughter had a child that night

The first glimps of light

The baby’s positive

This is Muroka, Pimville, Dube

Ain’t no one safe no more

From Apartheid days, now caught up with AIDS

You fight from the day you’re born

In Soweto

From Diamond Mines to TBC

From violent to HIV

This is every second pregnancy

In Soweto

The bloodshed on these dusty roads

So many stories stay unhold

In the Ghetto