Paso And Cosas Riots In Kwa-Thema

Paso and Cosas started the first war of the comrades in Kwa-Thema in 1996, it started in Tlakula Secondary school and the first person to die was my neighbor because he was a Paso member. It wasn't long before the Paso members started paying revenge on the Cosas members and killed many members in Kwa-Thema. Then Kwa-Thema became corrupt, many of the people started to change their lives and the police & the politicians supplied guns to the Cosas members. Just imagine the was started by a girlfriend in Tlakula Secondary School. A peace agreement was made in June 1996, then in May 1997 the second war started it is the war where many people died. Nelson Mandela came to Kwa-Thema to make peace in April 1998. In 1999 a memorial of the members who died in the war was unveiled in Tlakula Secondary School. After peace was made the wars ended and the 45000+ population of Kwa-Thema was faced with new challenges  and high crim is one of those challenges

Written by
Kagiso Modikoe

Payneville to Kwa-Thema

Back then Paynville was a beautiful small township with black people living with coloureds and indians they rocked and learnt good education called royal education, they were smart in their minds clever, joined/united and they gathered at shebeens listening to old school songs legends like Dorothy Masuku ,Miriam Makeba etc. It has 2 mines which it owns Grootvlei Mine and East Geduld Mine , many people from the township worked there until e very unfortunate day, a violent storm called a Tornado swept through the township. Many people thought it was a very big snake but no one proved it ,Then the people from there came to settle in Kwa-Thema and form a location and called the first section of it Tornado
Payneville is in the east of Johannesburg Ekurhuleni which in 1950 - 1960 consisted of blacks, coloureds and indians dominated by blacks, it had a population of about 30000 people. Employment rates were very high since there were a lot of companies in the area as well as mines and the town was very close to the people, so they could easily walk to town. When they were moved to Kwa-Thema people had to spend money for transport and they were given small houses,  two roomed houses in Overline regardless of the family size. When they were relocated people lost much of their furniture because the government didn't care about them. The new government came into action (ANC) and it enfoced new laws for land claims because some of the people wanted to go back to Payneville which is their beautiful place.

Written by
Mduduzi Qwabe

Kwa-Thema Origins (Tornado)

 Tornado the section to be built in a township called Kwa-Thema. A small township with a population of 45000+ people and is located east of Johannesburg near a town called Springs, coming in Springs Kwa-Thema in the section of Tornado and learning the origination of this Township just blow your mind away
The name Springs came after hot Springs of underground water were discovered where the located today. Mr Thema was a black South African soldier who participated in the second world war and our township was name after his surname to honour his memory hence the name Kwa-Thema , but in order to know the origin of the name Tornado you need to the story and past behind it
1959- Closer than Kwa-Thema to Springs and the only township that was in existance at the time Payneville  is where our story begins. Black, Indian and Coloured people lived together and in harmony but this was not what the apartheid government had in mind. The government wanted separation between all the races and power over all the groups.In the year of 1959 Payneville was struck by a tornado leaving most of Payneville destroyed and the government saw this as an opportunity to relocate all black people further away from Springs and into the newly built location of Kwa-Thema
Kwa-Thema was built on what was once a mining areacalled the Vlakfontein mining area. Most if not all the people who were relocated by force were reluctant and tried protesting against the force removal but the government used force to enforce it's authority on the people. Black people's lives were changed forever, not only were they faced with new beginnings in a new location but most of what they owned and had earned was either destroyed during the tornado or lost during the forced removal.
After the first section of Kwa-Thema was built and all the people of Payneville were moved to this area the section still needed a name. Not wanting to forget where they came from and what they had been through and survived they decided to call the new section Tornado
2012- Tornado was the building block and stepping stone for what I call today my hood (ikasi lam) Kwa-Thema. Given the task to do research on the past of my township I didn't know what to expect , after learning the origins of my town I am grateful to be born in such a place. A place full of history and heritage, though faced by different challenges of apartheid and tribal wars in previous years and currently  facing the challenge of drugs and unemployment I strongly believe the people of Kwa-Thema are strong and very pesistant when it comes to overcoming the challenges they are faced with.

Written by
Sibusiso Buthelezi

Riots in Kwa-Thema

The history of riots started in1976 when students boycotted the afrikaans subject and many students died shot by the police.1990 history happened in Kwa-Thema when the Kwa-Thema community fought against the hostel people the community was divided into 2 Paso and Cosas. Paso was the hostel pople and cosas was the students, Paso members were the one's that leaked the information to the police and they also stopped students from going to school , they force students to be Paso members. the police didn't arrest them because they were working together. Cosas was under ANC, and it came in to stop Paso, they destroyed the hostel because the Paso was hiding there and the police arrested the Cosas Students and the whole community decided to interven and there was a big war. Putco buses pulled out till today we don't have buses in Kwa-Thema, the war stopped when Desmond Tutu intervened.

Written by
Anthony Mbangula