Was Soweto inhabited exclusively by blacks in the 1950s and '60s?

Yes that is a fair statement.

Remember that in South African society, there were a number of classifications of "coloured people " who could be tribal blacks, or mixed races, such as Indian/black, or mulatto/white. The Afrikaners were white people of Dutch or German origin, and they controlled the country, by force.

The "townships " were a way to control the tribal areas, with a law that required special passes to travel out side of the territory, to go to work in the white cities. Police checked people at the train stations, to make sure that they had the right to travel out of the township.

The SA Police were mainly black, who were paid to control and abuse their own people, by the white minority. They had white officers, and were only trusted a bit, by the Afrikaners. They lived a bit better than most blacks did, and were provided with housing that was separate from the townships. This was a typical method to divide and control a population, using their own people as a force against them. It worked for a long time, too.

Jim B

Toronto.