The Sowetan is an English language, South African newspaper that started in 1981 as a liberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the black township of Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 In South Africa, the term Township usually refers to the (often underdeveloped urban living areas that under Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites Soweto is an urban area in the City of Johannesburg, in Gauteng, South Africa. Johannesburg ( Pronounced /jō-hān'ĭs-bûrg'/ is the largest city in South Africa. Gauteng (xaʊˈtɛŋ Sotho xɑ́útʼèŋ̀ is a province of South Africa. Although a lot of its content has changed since then, it still holds most of the respect it did during the apartheid years.