Crossroads, Western Cape

Last updated
Crossroads
2011-02-08 16-53-17 South Africa - Crossroads.jpg
Aerial view of Crossroads
South Africa Western Cape location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Crossroads
South Africa adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Crossroads
Coordinates: 33°59′S18°35′E / 33.983°S 18.583°E / -33.983; 18.583
Country South Africa
Province Western Cape
Municipality City of Cape Town
Area
[1]
  Total
2.35 km2 (0.91 sq mi)
Population
 (2011) [1]
  Total
36,043
  Density15,000/km2 (40,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[1]
   Black African 96.7%
   Coloured 2.9%
   Indian/Asian 0.1%
   White 0.1%
  Other0.2%
First languages (2011)
[1]
   Xhosa 89.0%
   Afrikaans 3.4%
   English 3.2%
   Sotho 1.4%
  Other3.0%
Time zone UTC+2 (SAST)
PO box
9334

Crossroads is a high-density township in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Contents

It is situated near Cape Town International Airport and borders Nyanga, Philippi, Heideveld, Gugulethu and Mitchells Plain. Crossroads is one of greater Cape Town's largest townships.

History

The establishment of Crossroads as a settlement began in the 1970s when workers from a nearby farm were told to leave and move to 'the crossroads'. By the year of 1977 a survey indicated that a total of 18,000 people were living at Crossroads. [2]

An added motivation for the initial settlers in what was then unsettled Cape Flats Dune Strandveld was the opportunity for families to build individual, more respectable homes than the hostels of Gugulethu allowed for. Since the Apartheid authorities considered the settlement temporary, orders to evict and dismantle it were issued in 1975. [2] In 1978, Prime Minister PW Botha had led a campaign to demolish Crossroads in 1978. Amid significant opposition, Botha and his minister for Black affairs Piet Koornhof agreed to "indefinitely delay" the demolitions. [3] [4]

Opposition came from Men's Committee and a Women's Committee that had been formed to oppose the order as well as the Black Sash. The Women's Committee was particularly successful at organising and gaining support from within and from outside of the community. In 1978 Crossroads was declared an 'emergency camp' thereby obliging the City Council to supply basic municipal services. [2] Once Crossroads had been declared a legal settlement by the government they began to focus on dismantling the rapidly growing informal settlements in the surrounding area. The government's focus on destroying these settlements was driven by a desire to neutralise the threat the government faced in the wake of 1976 Soweto uprisings. [5]

From this group of activists the Development Action Group was established in 1986. A non-governmental organisation that a former mayor of Cape Town, Nomaindia Mfeketo, used to work for prior to becoming mayor. [6]

Although the 'Save Crossroads' campaign was successful violence broke out within the community due to a feud between supporters of the then head of the residents committee Johnson Ngxobongwana, and those who accused him of favouritism and rewarding his henchmen. [2]

By 1983 the violence in Crossroads began to spread into the neighboring areas of KTC and Nyanga. Older Crossroads residents resented the rising influence of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and in response a group of these residents formed an organisation known as the 'witdoeke' (white armbands) and allied with the police to suppress the UDF. [2] [5]

The 'witdoeke' attacked neighbouring townships and set fire to all the shanty settlements in old Crossroads thereby leaving 60,000 people homeless. As a result, some residents moved to a tented town near Site C in Khayelitsha to avoid the violence. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Flats</span> Area of Cape Town, South Africa

The Cape Flats is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lies within the larger geographical area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. W. Botha</span> Leader of South Africa from 1978 to 1989

Pieter Willem Botha, was a South African politician. Nicknamed 'Die Groot Krokodil' due to his tough political stance, he was the head of government of South Africa from 1978 to 1989, serving as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president of South Africa from 1984 to 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apartheid</span> South African system of racial separation

Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. Under this minoritarian system, white citizens held the highest status, followed by Indians, Coloureds and black Africans, in that order. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day, particularly inequality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khayelitsha</span> Suburb of Cape Town, in Western Cape, South Africa

Khayelitsha is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for New Home. It is reputed to be one of the largest and fastest-growing townships in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Democratic Front (South Africa)</span> 1983–1991 anti-apartheid organisation

The United Democratic Front (UDF) was a South African popular front that existed from 1983 to 1991. The UDF comprised more than 400 public organizations including trade unions, students' unions, women's and parachurch organizations. The UDF's goal was to establish a "non-racial, united South Africa in which segregation is abolished and in which society is freed from institutional and systematic racism." Its slogan was "UDF Unites, Apartheid Divides." The Front was established in 1983 to oppose the introduction of the Tricameral Parliament by the white-dominated National Party government, and dissolved in 1991 during the early stages of the transition to democracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gugulethu</span> Suburb of Cape Town, in Western Cape, South Africa

Gugulethu is a township in Western Cape, South Africa and is around 20km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of igugu lethu, which is Xhosa for our pride / our hope. The township was established along with Nyanga in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyanga, Western Cape</span> Suburb of Cape Town, in Western Cape, South Africa

Nyanga is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa. Its name in Xhosa means "moon" and it is one of the oldest black townships in Cape Town. It was established as a result of the migrant labour system. In 1948 black migrants were forced to settle in Nyanga as Langa had become too small. Nyanga was one of the poorest places in Cape Town and is still one of the most peaceful parts of Cape Town. In 2001 its unemployment rate was estimated at being approximately 56% and HIV/AIDS is a huge community issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manenberg</span> Suburb of Cape Town, in Western Cape, South Africa

Manenberg is a township of Cape Town, South Africa, that was created by the apartheid government for low-income Coloured families in the Cape Flats in 1966 as a result of the forced removal campaign by the National Party. It has an estimated population of 52,000 residents. The area consists of rows of semi-detached houses and project-like flats, known as "korre". The township is located about 20 km away from the city centre of Cape Town. It is separated from neighbouring Nyanga and Gugulethu townships by a railway line and Nyanga Junction to the east and from Hanover Park by the Sand Industria industrial park to the west and Heideveld to the north. The northern part of Manenberg, is known as Sherwood Park, here, in the past live many wealthy people of both Christian and Muslims descent, sadly all this changed. The middle and lower class live in Manenberg. Poverty, unemployment, lack of education and motivation,coupled with drug abuse/addiction, gang activities, social injustice and racial profiling are some of the major issues people in Manenberg suffer under.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Security Council</span>

The State Security Council (SSC) was formed in South Africa in 1972 to advise the government on the country's national policy and strategy concerning security, its implementation and determining security priorities. Its role changed through the prime ministerships of John Vorster and PW Botha, being little used during the former's and during the latter's, controlling all aspects of South African public's lives by becoming the Cabinet. During those years he would implement a Total National Strategy, Total Counter-revolutionary Strategy and finally in the mid-eighties, established the National Security Management System (NSMS). After FW de Klerk's rise to the role of State President, the Cabinet would eventually regain control of the management of the country. After the 1994 elections a committee called National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee was formed to advise the South African president on security and intelligence as well as its implementation.

Pieter G. J. Koornhof, was a South African politician. As an apartheid-era National Party cabinet minister, he held various portfolios in the cabinets of B.J. Vorster and P.W. Botha. He was regarded as one of the most reform‐minded ministers in the government. He later served as South Africa Ambassador to the United States. After the end of apartheid, he joined the African National Congress in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign</span> Movement in Cape Town, South Africa

The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign was a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities in Cape Town, South Africa. It was formed in November 2000 with the aim of fighting evictions, water cut-offs and poor health services, obtaining free electricity, securing decent housing, and opposing police brutality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delmas Treason Trial</span> 1985–1988 trial of anti-apartheid activists

The Delmas Treason Trial was heard in the Supreme Court of South Africa from 16 October 1985 to 18 November 1988. In one of the lengthiest political trials in South African history, the apartheid state pursued treason charges against 22 activists for their alleged role in instigating the 1984 Vaal uprising in the Vaal Triangle. The trial led to the conviction of Moses Chikane, Mosiuoa Lekota, Popo Molefe, and Tom Manthata on treason charges, and seven others were convicted of terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Toms</span> South African physician

Ivan Peter Toms was a South African physician, who battled the Apartheid era government as a prominent anti-Apartheid and anti-conscription activist. He opposed conscription by the South African Defence Force, and was a co-founder of the End Conscription Campaign. He ran a clinic in the Crossroads shanty town where he was the only physician for 60,000 people. He went on a hunger strike in 1985 after the government decided to bulldoze the settlement. Toms was also involved with gay rights activism in South Africa and was a founding member of the Lesbians and Gays Against Oppression. At the time of his death in 2008, Toms was serving as the Director of Health for the city of Cape Town, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippi, Western Cape</span> Suburb of Cape Town

Philippi is a large urban and semi-rural area in Cape Town's Cape Flats region, in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Mkhuseli "Khusta" Jack is a South African politician, businessman and anti-apartheid activist. Jack currently serves as the chairperson of Build One South Africa. He previously served as the deputy mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.

Oscar Mafakafaka Mpetha OMSS was born in Mount Fletcher 5 August 1909 and died on 15 November 1994. He was a South African trade unionist and political activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cradock Four</span> Anti-apartheid activists

The Cradock Four were a group of four anti-Apartheid activists who were abducted and murdered by South African security police in June 1985, named as such as all four were from the town of Cradock, Eastern Cape. The South African apartheid government denied that they had ordered the killings, but a document leaked to the press years later resulted in the removal of several police officers. At the second inquest, a judge ruled that the "security forces" were responsible, but named no one individual.

Fezeka High School is a public high school located in Gugulethu, Western Cape, South Africa. It is one of the high schools in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoliswa Kota-Mpeko</span> South African politician (born 1956)

Zoliswa Albertina Kota-Mpeko is a South African politician from the Western Cape. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she served as Deputy Minister of Human Settlements between May 2009 and May 2019. She served six terms in the National Assembly of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaal uprising</span> 1984–1986 protests in South Africa

The Vaal uprising was a period of popular revolt in black townships in apartheid South Africa, beginning in the Vaal Triangle on 3 September 1984. Sometimes known as the township revolt and driven both by local grievances and by opposition to apartheid, the uprising lasted two years and affected most regions of the country. The government of P. W. Botha did not succeed in curbing the violence until after it imposed a national state of emergency in June 1986.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Main Place Crossroads". Census 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Apartheid Shanty Towns in Cape Town". Cape Town History. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  3. Burns, John F. (12 December 1978). South Africa's Impulsive but Flexible New Prime Minister The New York Times, Retrieved on 5 February 2025
  4. Burns, John F. (29 November 1978).20,000 South Africa Blacks Fight Regime's Effort to Uproot Them The New York Times. Retrieved on 5 February 2025
  5. 1 2 "Cape Town the Segregated city". South African History Online. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  6. "Origin and Track Record". Development Action Group. Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2013.

Further reading