Gugulethu | |
---|---|
From top, Mzoli's restaurant & butchery. A spaza shop/grocery run out of an informal house (centre left). A roadside meat market operating out of a household (centre right). The Gugulethu Seven Memorial (bottom). | |
Coordinates: 33°59′S18°34′E / 33.983°S 18.567°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Western Cape |
Municipality | City of Cape Town |
Main Place | Cape Town |
Government | |
• Councillor | Melody Klaas (ANC) (Ward 40) (Belinda) Ntombende Landingwe (Ward 41) (ANC) Mandisa Matshoba (Ward 42) (ANC) Faiza Adams (Ward 45) (DA) |
Area | |
• Total | 6.49 km2 (2.51 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 98,468 |
• Density | 15,000/km2 (39,000/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 98.6% |
• Coloured | 0.9% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.1% |
• Other | 0.4% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Xhosa | 88.6% |
• English | 3.6% |
• Sotho | 1.9% |
• Afrikaans | 1.7% |
• Other | 4.2% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 7750, 7752, 7756 |
Gugulethu is a township in Western Cape, South Africa and is around 20km from Cape Town. [2] 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. [3]
The name is a contraction of igugu lethu, which is Xhosa for our pride/ our hope. Gugulethu, along with Nyanga, was established in the 1960s due to the overcrowding of Langa, which was the only black residential area for Cape Town at the time. During the Apartheid era, black South Africans were not permitted to live in the city of Cape Town, and many people were removed from areas such as District Six to Gugulethu, Nyanga, and Langa. The predominant language in Gugulethu is Xhosa. Gugulethu is passionately called or referred to as "Gugs" by the locals, which is a nickname stemming from the shortening of the name Gugulethu.
Black residents living in Windermere were forcibly moved to Gugulethu when it was declared a black township. Windermere was declared by Apartheid regime to be a colored area. [4]
Gugulethu was one of the first townships in Cape Town to have a community information technology Center to provide training in multimedia and youth development. [5]
The 'Gugulethu Seven Memorial' was built to commemorate the life of seven activists that were ambushed and killed by the South African security forces on March 3, 1986. The activists were members of uMkhonto weSizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). [6] The seven murdered were Jabulani Godfery Miya, Zandisile Zenith Mjobo, Zola Alfred Swelani, Mandla Simon Mxinwa, Themba Mlifi, Zabonke, John Konile, and Christopher Piet. On Human Rights Day 2000, the memorial was unveiled. [7]
According to data collected by the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) over 700 people were murdered in Gugulethu between 2005 and 2010. "This amounts to one murder every two-and-a-half days for five consecutive years." [16]
In a 2017 study of the 50 most violent cities in the world, Cape Town ranked number 15. Latin America cities ranked the highest with having 42 cities. Brazil having 17, Mexico 12, and Venezuela having five. [17]
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.
Sindiwe Magona is a South African writer.
Langa is a township in Cape Town, South Africa. Its name in Xhosa means "sun". The township was initially built in phases before being formally opened in 1927. It was developed as a result of South Africa's 1923 Urban Areas Act, which was designed to force Africans to move from their homes into segregated locations. Similar to Nyanga, Langa is one of the many areas in South Africa that were designated for Black Africans before the apartheid era. It is the oldest of such suburbs in Cape Town and was the location of much resistance to apartheid.
The Vukani is a local weekly newspaper distributed to the township areas of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. It is written in Xhosa and English. Vukani means "Wake up" in both the isiZulu and isiXhosa languages. The newspaper covers items of interest to large communities in Khayelitsha, Langa, Nyanga and Gugulethu.
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.
Lwandle/Nomzamo is a small township in the Helderberg basin just outside Strand in the Western Cape of South Africa. Both names are sometimes used interchangeably referring to both places. This may be attributed to the fact that Nomzamo was born as a result of overpopulation in Lwandle area which initially designed as a cheap accommodation for "single male workers" during the apartheid years.
Crossroads is a high-density township in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Amy Elizabeth Biehl was a Fulbright Scholar and American graduate of Stanford University and an anti-Apartheid activist in South Africa who was murdered by a black mob shouting anti-white slurs at her in Cape Town. The four men convicted of her murder were granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
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.
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.
The Amy Biehl Foundation Trust was the organization established in Cape Town, South Africa by Linda and Peter Biehl commemorate their daughter Amy Biehl, a white American anti-apartheid activist who was killed by a black mob during racial violence in South Africa in 1993.
Mzoli's was a butchery in Gugulethu, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. Since Mzoli's opened in early 2003, the restaurant had become a popular gathering spot for Cape Town residents and a tourist attraction. It was praised by international visitors including restaurateur Jamie Oliver. Mzoli's was criticized by local residents and the media for its lack of safety, due to the prevalence of gangs. The restaurant closed indefinitely in May 2021 due to several factors.
The Gugulethu Seven was an anti-apartheid group of men between the ages of 16 and 23 that were shot and killed on 3 March 1986 by members of the South African Police force. The seven men included Mandla Simon Mxinwa, Zanisile Zenith Mjobo, Zola Alfred Swelani, Godfrey Jabulani Miya, Christopher Piet, Themba Mlifi and Zabonke John Konile. It was later uncovered that the police operation that unearthed the Gugulethu Seven's plans had been in the works for some time.
Philippi is a large urban and semi-urban area in Cape Town's Cape Flats region, in the Western Cape, South Africa. It comprises the Philippi Horticultural Area to the west, and the neighbourhoods of Brown's Farm, Philippi East and Samora Machel located within its eastern half. The neighbourhoods of Gugulethu and Nyanga are located to its north. The horticultural area is sparsely populated compared to the surrounding city and contains many farms.
Anni Ninna Dewani was a Swedish woman of Indian origin who was murdered while on her honeymoon in South Africa after the taxi in which she and her husband Shrien Dewani were traveling was hijacked.
There have been pride parades in South Africa celebrating LGBT pride since 1990. South African pride parades were historically used for political advocacy protesting against legal discrimination against LGBT people, and for the celebration of equality before the law after the apartheid era. They are increasingly used for political advocacy against LGBT hate crimes, such as the so-called corrective rape of lesbians in townships, and to remember victims thereof.
Gladys Nomfanekiso Mgudlandlu was a South African artist and educator. Noted as one of the first African women in South Africa to hold a solo exhibition, she was a pioneer in visual arts in her country, for which she was given the Presidential Order of Ikhamanga in Silver. She drew influences from her cultural background and the landscape around her.
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.
Linda Biehl is an American philanthropist and mother of Amy Biehl, an activist who was murdered in 1993 in South Africa. She is the co-founder and director of the United States-based Amy Biehl Foundation and the South African-based Amy Biehl Foundation Trust.
Mother to Mother is an epistolary novel by South African writer Sindiwe Magona.