Where did the Alexandra bus boycott take place?

The 1957 Alexandra bus boycott was a protest undertaken against the Public Utility Transport Corporation (PUTCO) by the people of Alexandra in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is generally recognised as being one of the few successful political campaigns of the Apartheid era.

The boycott was launched in January 1957 and lasted until June 1957. It quickly spread beyond Alexandra to other areas of Johannesburg; commuters in Pretoria and elsewhere joined in. At its height, 70,000 township residents refused to ride the local buses to and from work. For many people this daily journey to downtown Johannesburg was a 32-kilometre (20-mile) round trip.

The boycott was named "Azikwelwa" ("We will not ride"). Alexandra Township had seen two previous bus boycotts. In August 1943 a nine-day boycott succeeded in reducing the fare 20% from 5d to 4d (4d, "four pence", represented one-sixtieth of a day's pay at the minimum wage). A second strike began in November 1944 after prices were again raised.

The 1957 protest was mobilised after PUTCO again proposed raising its fares from 4d to 5d. With the government refusing to increase its public subsidy to the company, PUTCO argued that a price hike was inevitable. On 7 January 1957, it was resolved by the people of Alexandra to launch the boycott and, on the same day, the Alexandra People's Transport Action Committee was formed. The boycott continued until the 4d fare was restored.