Thembisa, formerly Tembisa (Dindela), is a large

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

situated to the north of Kempton Park on the

East Rand The East Rand is the urban eastern part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation in South Africa. The region extends from Alberton in the west to Nigel in the east, and south down to Nigel. It includes ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It was established in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

when black people were resettled from

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

and other areas in Edenvale, Kempton Park,

Midrand Midrand is a former municipality in central Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated in-between Centurion and Sandton and now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. History Midrand was established as a municipality in 198 ...

and

Germiston Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as ...

History

The township was founded in 1957. After the

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...

-dominated National Party gained power in 1948 and began to implement

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, the pace of forced removals and the creation of townships outside legally designated white areas increased. The Johannesburg council established new townships for black people evicted from the city's freehold areas. In 1956, townships were laid out for particular ethnic groups as part of the state's strategy to sift black people into groupings that would later form the building blocks of the so-called "independent homelands". It is the second largest township in

, following

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

. In 1977 the government initiated the Community Councils and in 1982 upgraded them to Town Councils, under the Black Local Authorities Act. The government vested limited powers on these councils but without financial muscle. Therefore, to raise revenue for purposes of developing the townships, the councils increased rent and service charges. This caused the residents in different townships, including Thembisa, to establish civic structures to resist the rent and service charge increases. On 26 July 2016, residents were caught off guard when a tornado hit the area. The twister started in Kempton Park and moved over to Thembisa, causing the most destruction here. Around 20 individuals were seriously injured and in excess of 400 were left destitute. A standout amongst the most noticeable sights was the damage caused to the Phumulani Mall, where the rooftop crumbled after the tornado passed through it.

Transport

Road

Thembisa is connected to

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

in the north and Kempton Park in the south via two main roads, namely the M57 Metropolitan Route and the R21 e-toll Highway. The R21 Highway and the M57 Route both bypass Thembisa to the east. The northern part of Thembisa is connected to

in the west by the R562 Route (Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Road). The R562 forms the boundary between Thembisa and

Olifantsfontein Olifantsfontein, also known as Clayville, is a small town on the East Rand in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. It is located at the north-western corner of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, just north of the Thembisa township. ...

(Clayville). The main route through the Thembisa town centre is the M18 Route, which is formed by two roads (Andrew Mapheto Drive and Reverend RTJ Namane Drive). It connects Thembisa with

and

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

in the north and with Chloorkop (near

Kempton Park West Kempton Park West is a suburb of Kempton Park, in Gauteng province, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch ...

) in the south-west.

Rail

The main

Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...

route between

in the north and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

via

in the south has a station in Thembisa east, namely the Oakmoor station. Just south of the Oakmoor station is a branch rail which heads north-west into the township, with the stations on the branch rail being Thembisa in the east, Limindlela in the center and Leralla in the west.

Notable people

Lerato Chabangu Mpho Lerato Chabangu (born 15 August 1985) is a South African soccer player who plays as a right winger for Baberwa. He has previously played for the South Africa national football team.Panyaza Lesufi Andrek "Panyaza" Lesufi (born 4 September 1968) is a South African politician who was appointed the seventh Premier of Gauteng in October 2022. He was previously Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in the Gauteng provincial govern ...

- Premier of Gauteng * Tsietsi Mahoa -soccer player *

George Maluleka George Nyiko Maluleka (born 7 January 1989) is a South African soccer player who plays for AmaZulu in the South African Premier Division. Club career Maluleka played for Kempton Park FC and Pretoria University starting out as a striker. In 200 ...

- soccer player *

Thabo Matlaba Thabo "Festival" Matlaba (born 13 December 1987) is a South African association football defender who most recently played for Premier Soccer League club Black Leopards now playing for Royal AM. He is known for his long range shots with both ...

- soccer player *

Pearl Modiadie Pearl Modiadie (born December 29, 1987) is a South African television presenter, radio DJ, actress and producer best known to TV audiences for presenting the SABC1 music talk show Zaziwa. Life and career 1987-2009: Early life and education Pea ...

- TV presenter, radio DJ, producer * Rosemary Ndlovu - serial killer *

Refiloe Nt'sekhe Refiloe Nt'sekhe (born 28 April 1977) is a South African politician who serves as a Deputy Federal Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance (DA). She was elected to the position at the 2015 Federal Congress. Nt'sekhe was elected as a Member of th ...

- Deputy Federal Chairperson of the

Democratic Alliance (South Africa) The Democratic Alliance (, DA) is a South African list of political parties in South Africa, political party and the official opposition to the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The party is broadly centrism, centrist, and has been attribute ...

(DA) * Jerry Sikhosana former soccer player, most famously for

Orlando Pirates F.C. Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DSt ...

, coach * Claude Tshidibi -

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player * Mthokozisi Yende - soccer player *

Lady Zamar Yamikani Janet Banda; known professionally as Lady Zamar, is a South African singer and songwriter. She was born on 19 June 1995 in Tembisa, South Africa and was raised in Thembisa. She mainly incorporates elements of house music in her songs and ...

- singer, songwriter * Themba Zwane - soccer player *

Moses Taiwa Molelekwa Moses Taiwa Molelekwa (17 April 1973 – 13 February 2001) was a South African jazz pianist. Early life Moses Taiwa Molelekwa grew up in a family of jazz musicians. He was brought up in the town of Tembisa, situated in the province of Gauten ...

- Pianist *

Aymos Babili Amos Shili, popularly known by his stage name Aymos is a South African singer-songwriter. He is best known for the hit single "Emcimbini" which was produced by Kabza De Small and DJ Maphorisa. Early life and career Aymos was born in Tem ...

- singer, songwriter

References

{{Authority control Townships in Gauteng Populated places in Ekurhuleni Populated places established in 1957 East Rand