Last modified on 23 March 2014, at 06:29 Atteridgeville Atteridgeville   Atteridgeville  Atteridgeville shown within South Africa Coordinates: 25°46′24″S 28°04′17″E / 25.77333°S 28.07139°E Country South Africa Province Gauteng Municipality City of Tshwane Established 1939 Area[1] • Total 9.84 km2 (3.80 sq mi) Population (2011)[1] • Total 64,425 • Density 6,500/km2 (17,000/sq mi) Racial makeup (2011)[1] • Black African 99.1% • Coloured 0.3% • Indian/Asian 0.1% • White 0.2% • Other 0.3% First languages (2011)[1] • Northern Sotho 41.4% • Tswana 16.7% • Sotho 12.3% • Zulu 7.2% • Other 22.4% Postal code (street) 0008 PO box 0006 Area code 012 Atteridgeville, part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, is a township located on the west of Pretoria, South Africa. It is bordered to the west by Saulsville, to the east by Proclamation Hill; to the south by Laudium and to the north by Lotus Gardens. History Atteridgeville was established in 1939[2] for black people by the government, after much lobbying by Mrs. Myrtle Patricia Atteridge. The Apartheid Government was voted in in 1948 after Atteridgeville was founded. The first occupants were moved to Atteridgeville on 26 May 1940.[2] Mrs. Myrtle Patricia Atteridge, philanthropist, Black Sash activist, Pretoria City Councillor and deputy mayoress of Pretoria endeavoured to improve living conditions of Blacks who were previously living in appaling conditions in Marabastad. Atteridgeville provided brick housing; lighting; toilets etc. Later, to further enhance living standards the township was also connected by train to Pretoria CBD. Schools, creches, clinics etc. were to follow. The naming of the township was in fact suggested by the black people themselves who also requested Mrs. Atteridge to represent them in parliament which she refused as she was disinclined to participate in an exclusionary regime. Between 1940 and 1949 more than 1500 houses were built for people relocated from Marabastad, Bantule and other areas around Pretoria.[3] On 15 April 1988 a bomb explosion caused damage to the Atteridgeville Municipal buildings; no-one was injured during the attack. The attack was planned by Umkhonto we Sizwe and executed by one of their members, Johannes Maleka. In November 2000, Johannes Maleka was granted amnesty for his part in the attack by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.[5][6] Atteridgeville is the only township in Gauteng that blocked Zulu-land migrants from forcefully occupying Hostels, prominent members of the ANC in the township including Dr Abe Nkomo, Mr Rami Dau, Reeves Mabitsi and Kgomotso Mokoka held the fore...
Posted on: Tue, 20 May 2014 14:39:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015