Atteridgeville is a township located to the west of Pretoria, South Africa. It is located to the east of Saulsville, to the west of West Park; to the north of

Laudium Laudium () is an Indian township (apartheid classification) in southwest of central Pretoria, in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. Claudius is a residential suburb that is effectively an extension of Laudium. History Older aer ...

and to the south of Lotus Gardens. The settlement was established in 1939, and is named after Mrs MP Atteridge, chairwoman of the Committee for Non-European Affairs on the Pretoria City Council at the time. The Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium is located in Atteridgeville.

History

Early years

Atteridgeville was established by the government in 1939 as a settlement for

black people Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...

, after much lobbying by Mrs Myrtle Patricia Atteridge, the chairwoman of the Committee for Non-European Affairs on the City Council at that time. Atteridgeville was established nine years prior to the election of the

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 wa ...

government in 1948. The first occupants were moved to Atteridgeville from Marabastad on 26 May 1940. It was officially opened on 5 August 1940. Mrs Atteridge, who was also a philanthropist, Black Sash activist and the deputy mayoress of Pretoria, endeavoured to improve living conditions of black people who were previously living in squalid conditions in Marabastad. Atteridgeville provided amenities such as brick housing, lighting and toilets, and later, so as to further enhance living standards, the township was connected by train to Pretoria CBD. Schools, creches and clinics were established thereafter. 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 Marabastad (also called Asiatic Bazaar or Location) is a business area near the city centre of Pretoria, South Africa. The original ''Maraba Village'', situated just to the south of the present Marabastad, was founded and ruled by the Ndebele Ch ...

, Bantule and other areas around Pretoria.

Apartheid era

Development was frozen between 1968 and 1978 in accordance with the government's policy that housing provided for black people be limited to the homelands. In 1984, Atteridgeville was granted municipal status. 1984 saw school boycotts and general unrest when demands by the Congress of South African Students to implement democratic students' representative councils in schools were rejected by the Department of Education and Training. The first victim of the school boycotts was Emma Sathekge from David Helen Peta High School. The schools were suspended for the better part of 1984 and exams were not written by all High school learners. 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 Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offic ...

for his part in the attack by the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...

Demographics

Atteridgeville is a diverse township, the residents of which speak many languages. According to the 2011 census, the most commonly spoken language is Northern Sotho, Zulu , followed by

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana Bophuthat ...

and Sesotho. A mixture of languages such as

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans grad ...

, Setswana, English and Sesotho are sometimes fused together to form what is now a unique language style of the township with a slight inclination to slang known as Tsotsitaal or siPitori.

War memorial

The Mendi Memorial is a war memorial dedicated to over 600 black South African soldiers who died when the British vessel SS Mendi sank after a tragic collision in 1917, during the First World War. The memorial was unveiled on 24 March 1996. The memorial consists of the upper half of a soldier holding onto a ship's railing with the other hand extended towards the sky. The memorial is located at the Ga-mothakga Resort'' 'on the corner of Pitse and Tlou Streets.

Notable people

Sydney Maree Sydney Maree (born September 9, 1956) is a former middle distance runner who competed at the international level in the 1980s. He was the first South African to run officially under 3:30 in the 1500m. He was born in Cullinan, South Africa, but l ...

(born 1956), a middle-distance athlete *

Tutu Puoane Tutu Puoane (31 May 1979, Atteridgeville, Pretoria-) is a South African Jazz singer. She grew up in the township of Mamelodi, Pretoria. By 1997 she had already been performing in Johannesburg downtown. Realizing her passion for singing, Tutu wen ...

(born 1979), jazz musician *

Sello Maake Ka-Ncube Sello Maake kaNcube (born 12 March 1960) is a South African actor. He has worked in his native land as well as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Europe. Early life Maake kaNcube was born in Orlando, Soweto, South Africa. He later m ...

(born 1960), film and television actor * Solly Msimanga, former mayor of Pretoria (2016–2019) * Gwen Ramokgopa, politician and former mayor of Pretoria (2005–2010) *

Kgosientso Ramokgopa Kgosientsho or Kgosientso "Sputla" Ramokgopa (born 25 January 1975) is a South African politician who was the Mayor of Tshwane from 2010 to 2016. He was also a Member of the Executive Council in the Gauteng provincial government in 2019 and c ...

, Politician and former mayor of Pretoria (2012 -2016) * Jeff Masemola, anti-apartheid activist, teacher, and founder of the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) *

Dikgang Moseneke Dikgang Ernest Moseneke (born 20 December 1947) is a South African judge and former Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa. Biography Moseneke was born in Pretoria and went to school there. He joined the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) at the a ...

, former Robben Island prisoner, ex-vice-president of the PAC and retired deputy Chief Justice * 25K, rapper and songwriter * Titus "Big Daddy" Lebese, Financial Markets Analyst on Motsweding FM, Business Advisory Specialist, Lebese Solutions Pty Ltd, Layminister in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA), stationed at Bernard the Martyr Parish, Atteridgeville at 27 Ramushu Street.... STAR

References

{{Authority control Suburbs of Pretoria Townships in Gauteng Populated places established in 1939 1939 establishments in South Africa