Langa is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Its name in

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

means "

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

". 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 (more commonly known as the "pass laws"), which was designed to force Africans to move from their homes into segregated locations. Similar to

Nyanga Nyanga may mean: *Nyanga Province, of Gabon *Nyanga River, in Gabon and Congo *Nyanga people, an ethnic group from Congo *Nyanga, Zimbabwe, a town *Nyanga District, Zimbabwe *Nyanga National Park in Zimbabwe *Nyanga, Western Cape, a township in Sou ...

, Langa is one of the many areas in

that were designated for Black Africans before the

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

era. It is the oldest of such suburbs in Cape Town and was the location of much resistance to apartheid. Langa is also where several people were killed on 21 March 1960, the same day as the Sharpeville massacre, during the anti-pass campaign. On 21 March 2010, now 50 years later, a monument was unveiled by the government in remembrance of the people who died while on the protest march.

Location

Langa is bordered by the M17 (Jan Smuts Drive) to the west, the N2 to the south, and the M7 to the east, and is served by Langa Railway Station.

History

Although Langa literally means "sun" in

, the name of the

is derived from the name of

Langalibalele Langalibalele ( isiHlubi: meaning 'The blazing sun', also known as Mthethwa, Mdingi (c 1814 – 1889), was king of the amaHlubi, a Bantu tribe in what is the modern-day province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He was born on the edge of the ...

– a chief and renowned rainmaker who in 1873 was imprisoned on

Robben Island Robben Island () is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch language, Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrika ...

for rebelling against the

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

government. Various prominent people fought for his release and he was subsequently confined to a farm called "Uitvlugt", which is on the site of present-day Pinelands. Langa, which adjoins Pinelands, commemorates this folk hero as it was developed in 1898 on the land known as "Langalibalele's Location". Hence Langa is often called "Kwa-Langa" meaning "place of Langa". Langa was originally designed in a way to allow the authorities maximum visibility and control of residents. In the early years local laws prohibiting the brewing of sorghum beer (utywala) was strongly resented and in the 1930s prohibition was abolished in the area with the construction of municipal beer halls taking place in 1945. However, the close living conditions of residents in Langa promoted a high degree of neighbourliness and the creation of broader African institutions that promoted a greater sense of community cohesion. On 30 March 1960 Langa was the starting point for a march of between 30,000 and 50,000 protesters to Caledon Square police station in Cape Town led by

Philip Kgosana Philip Ata Kgosana (Born in now Makapanstad, North West, South Africa 12 October 1936 – 19 April 2017) was a leader of the Pan Africanist Congress in South Africa, and was known for leading a march at the age of 23 on 30 March 1960, where 30,00 ...

and the

Pan Africanist Congress The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, often shortened to the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), is a South African pan-Africanist national liberation movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert So ...

to protest the apartheid-era pass laws.

Recent history

Joe Slovo Yossel Mashel "Joe" Slovo (23 May 1926 – 6 January 1995) was a South African politician and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Com ...

, which was established in 1990, is the largest informal settlement in Langa and one of the largest in the country. It is currently being threatened with forced removals to make way for the N2 Gateway Housing Project. Some parts of the Joe Slovo informal settlement have since been removed and transformed into the N2 Gateway Housing Project (2006), which can be seen when travelling along the N2 highway out of Cape Town. In 2005, the Guga S'thebe Arts & Culture Centre, a cultural/multi-purpose centre, was officially opened in Langa after unofficially being in operation for a number of years. The first township B&B – Ma Neo's Bed & Breakfast – was opened in Langa in 1999. On 9 July 2014, Langa was the site of violent protests against a lack of government service delivery, specifically regarding housing, but the protesting soon turned into a more general protest about broader issues such as the Marikana massacre and general living conditions. A number of shops and local businesses were torched and looted and transport links to the rest of the city were closed off by protesters.

Notable residents

Langa has produced some prominent figures in sport and entertainment and was the birthplace of the internationally acclaimed percussion ensemble

Amampondo Amampondo is a South African percussion ensemble that was started by Dizu Plaatjies in Langa, Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Pa ...

. *

Temba Bavuma Temba Bavuma (born 17 May 1990) is a South African international cricketer who is the current captain of the South African cricket team in Tests and ODI cricket, and formerly captained in T20I. He is a right-handed middle-order batter. He w ...

(1990–),

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

player * Fatima Dike (1948–), playwright and theatre directorStephen Gray, 'An Interview With Fatima Dike', ''Callaloo'', No. 8/10 (Feb. - Oct. 1980), pp.157-164. *

Brenda Fassie Brenda Nokuzola Fassie (3 November 1964 – 9 May 2004) was a South African singer, songwriter, dancer and activist. Affectionately called MaBrrr by her fans, she is also known as the "Queen of African Pop" or the "Madonna of The Townships." Fas ...

(1964–2004), anti-apartheid

Afropop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop, Afro pop or African pop) can be defined as any African music, regardless of genre, that uses Western pop musical instruments, such as the guitar, piano, trumpet, etc.Olabode, O. (2023, J ...

singer, songwriter, dancer and activist *

Thabo Mngomeni Thabo Mngomeni (born 24 June 1969, Cape Town, Western Cape) is a South African former Association football midfielder. After starting his professional career at Cape Town Spurs and having a brief spell at Manning Rangers, Mngomeni became a hou ...

(1969–),

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player * Malusi Siboto (1987–), cricket player * Thami Tsolekile (1980–), cricket and

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

player * Lungile Tsolekile (born 1984) is a field hockey player who competed in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

External links

Why a visit to Langa is a must

References

{{Authority control Suburbs of Cape Town Townships in the Western Cape