Politics & Government
On a hillside in Soweto, South Africa, neat rows of red roofs characterize a new middle-class neighborhood in the former black township. Since a 1976 student uprising in Soweto against white apartheid rule, the former black township has seen a renaissance under South Africa's new black-led government. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Children play in the streets of Soweto, South Africa. The former black township outside Johannesburg that has undergone a middle-class rebirth. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Thoko Modise, who marched in the 1976 student uprising in Soweto, South Africa, armed with stones and a metal trash-can lid, is pictured in the dining room of Wandie's, her family-owned restaurant in Soweto. The former black township has transformed into a middle-class city in the 15 years since apartheid in South Africa ended. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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People shot at the Maponya Mall in Soweto, South Africa. The massive mall, opened in 2007, is a symbol of a renaissance in the former black township since white rule in South Africa ended in 1994. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Shadrack Motau, 63, a lifelong resident of Soweto, South Africa, marvels at the changes in the former black township in the 15 years since apartheid ended. "People are driving beautiful cars," he says. "People are starting businesses of all kinds." (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Thabang Molelefi, 33, opened Roots, the first health spa in Soweto, South Africa, in 2002. Her now thriving business is an example of growing black entrepreneurship in Soweto. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Ingrid Moloi, left, poses with members of a youth soccer team she manages in the Alexandra township of Johannesburg, South Africa. An HIV-positive community activist, Moloi's life has been prolonged by antiretroviral drugs that are only now coming into wide use in South Africa. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Vuyani Ngxalaba, 16, and his sister Rosinah, stand outside their two-room home in the Alexandra township of Johannesburg, South Africa. After their mother passed away due to complications from HIV, Rosinah struggled to tell her shy, soccer-crazed brother that he was also infected with the virus. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Vuyani Ngxalaba, 16, and his sister Rosinah, share a quiet moment at home in the bustling Alexandra township of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was at this dining table in 2007 that Rosinah first told her brother that he was infected with the AIDS virus, one of some 5.7 million South Africans who are infected. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Penny Mubaiwa, 36, started an upscale line of women's shoes in a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sourcing her designs from as far away as Paris and Hong Kong, Mubaiwa is an example of a growing black entrepreneurial class created by South Africa's post-apartheid government. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Joyce Mlambo, who makes just $2 a day running a small fruit stall in Alexandra township outside Johannesburg, South Africa, says she feels "betrayed" by politicians who've become wealthy in the 15 years since apartheid ended. "Nothing is happening for us here," Mlambo says. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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Women work by a grimy, trash-strewn riverbank in the former black township of Alexandra, outside Johannesburg, South Africa. Fifteen years since the end of white apartheid rule, South Africa is the economic power of the continent but many of its citizens still live in poverty. (Shashank Bengali/MCT)
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