| Fordsburg | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Gauteng#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -26.2067°N 28.0233°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Gauteng |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | City of Johannesburg |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Subdivision Name4: | Johannesburg |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 0.55 |
| Population Total: | 2350 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 46.2% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 2.1% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 50.0% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 0.3% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 1.4% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | English |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 43.6% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Zulu |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 15.1% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | Tswana |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 5.0% |
| Demographics2 Title4: | Xhosa |
| Demographics2 Info4: | 4.5% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 31.8% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal Code: | 2092 |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 2033 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
Fordsburg is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Fordsburg is a residential suburb, although housing numerous shops and factories.
Today, Fordsburg is a major centre of Indian and Pakistani culture, with a large number of halal restaurants. The Oriental Plaza, located in Fordsburg, was created by the Apartheid government as a large shopping centre for Indian-owned shops, and is a major attraction in Fordsburg. The suburb was portrayed in the 2012 film Material, which highlighted some of the cultural, racial and religious issues still facing South Africa's post-apartheid society
From the earliest days of Johannesburg, the suburb housed a large Jewish community - with the Fordsburg/Mayfair Hebrew Congregation established in 1893 https://archive.today/20130223063250/http://www.abaa.org/books/274417234.html - as well as associated institutions such as a Kosher butchery, chevra kadisha, welfare organisations and Bet midrash.[2]
Fordsburg was the site of a miners strike by Afrikaner nationalists and many Communists. Mine bosses insisted on using African labour in the mines. White workers opposed this policy, and Smuts called in the troops and airforce.[3] This strike is also known as the Rand Rebellion. A plaque in Fordsburg Square records the people who were killed there in the last battle of the rebellion.
Writer Herman Charles Bosman and playwright Athol Fugard, as well as anti-apartheid activists such as Yusuf Dadoo, GM Naiker and Nelson Mandela spent time in Fordsburg.[4]