Mitchells Plain 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, C ...

located within the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town ( af, Stad Kaapstad; xh, IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026. The remot ...

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

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

and situated about from the

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multiple smaller suburbs. It is located on the

Cape Flats The Cape Flats ( af, Die Kaapse Vlakte) 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 lie ...

on the

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

coast between

Muizenberg Muizenberg ( , Dutch for "mice mountain") is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spo ...

and

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to be the largest

. Conceived of as a "model suburb" by 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 was ...

government, it was built during the 1970s to provide housing for Coloured victims of forced removal due to the implementation of the

Group Areas Act Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system o ...

. At an estimated population of 290,000–305,000 people, it comprises a number of sub-sections which reflect the diverse class backgrounds of the population. It was once a major stronghold of the United Democratic Front, the broad-based ANC-sponsored anti-apartheid body. It also has one of greater Cape Town's biggest shopping centres, known as the Liberty Promenade.

History

Mitchells Plain was created by the apartheid government in the early 1970s as a Coloured township for middle-income families. The township was laid out in terms of the neighbourhood unit concept with large open spaces, localised public facilities and wide arterial routes. Various forms of housing were provided including, freestanding, semi-detached and duplex housing. However, by the late 80s and 90s, major areas of Mitchells Plain (mostly in the suburb's eastern half) deteriorated into urban ghettos.

Gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

sterism and drug abuse has increased and a number of informal settlements has sprung up in several areas.

Etymology

The residential area was reportedly named after Mitchell Baker but this is unconfirmed, and is one of a number of possible explanations. Another theory is that the area was named after Major Charles Cornwallis Michell, the Cape's first surveyor-general. Yet another theory is that the area was named after a farmer that previous owned a farm that the neighborhood was built on.

Demographics

According to 2011 census data compiled by Statistics South Africa, Mitchells Plain comprises the following in terms of demographics:

Mitchells Plain today

Today Mitchells Plain is one of Cape Town's and

's largest townships with a population of about 310,000 people in 2011. In terms of economic activity, investment is primarily in retail development with Mitchell's Plain being considered as having the strongest level of investment on the

. It has a central business district (CBD), locally called the "Town Centre" and three large shopping centres; Promenade Shopping Centre on AZ Berman Drive, Westgate Mall on the corner of Morgenster and Vanguard Drive and Watergate Shopping Centre, completed in 2017, on the corner of the Cape Flats Freeway (R300) and AZ Berman Drive. The Promenade Shopping Centre is the largest with more than 120 stores comprising major clothing, furniture, banks and restaurant chains. Informal economic activity is a significant part of the local economy. Such activity reflects a dominance of retail functions with informal trading responding to market and thus concentrated around the main

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

interchanges and along heavily utilised pedestrian routes.

Public transport

Mitchells Plain is reasonably well served by

services comprising commuter rail, bus and mini-bus taxi services. There are three Cape Metrorail commuter rail stations within the area at Kapteinsklip, Mitchell's Plain and Lentegeur. The rail line extends northwards towards Philippi,

's CBD and the industrial areas at Epping. The commuter rail service is commonly characterised by overcrowding during morning and afternoon peak periods as well as being unsafe during off-peak periods. The Mitchell's Plain Public Transport Interchange at the Mitchell's Plain Station includes a major bus terminus and taxi rank which provide public transport services to every major employment area within the City of Cape Town during the morning peak period. There is regular scheduled bus and unscheduled mini-bus taxi services to Cape Town CBD, Claremont, Bellville, Wynberg, and other areas. At more than 30,000 passenger trips per weekday and more than 90,000 passengers daily, it is one of the busiest transport interchanges in the city. Recent years have seen significant investment by the local authority in improving and upgrading public transport infrastructure and facilities at the Mitchell's Plain Interchange.

Mitchells Plain CBD

The Mitchells Plain Commercial Business District is commonly referred to as the Town Center by residents. It is a shopping district that includes a retail plaza, a shopping centre over and around in the train station, a public library, two major transport interchanges and informal markets. Informal traders in the Town Center sell fruit, vegetables, stationary, spices and cosmetics.

Sub-sections

Like the townships of

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 ...

and Delft, Mitchells Plain, believed to be South Africa's third largest township, is split into a number of sub-sections. The western half of the township is home to a wealthier population, while the eastern half comprises poorer communities.

Schools

Mitchells Plain is home to 85 schools, Some of these schools include Meadowridge Primary School, Aloe, Lentegeur, Beacon Hill, Oval North, Cedar, Glendale, Rocklands and Westville Primary Spine Road, Mondale, Portland, Princeton, Woodlands, Tafelsig, Westridge, Seaview Primary and Westport Primary

Social movements

In the latter years of apartheid, Mitchells Plain became the seat of the launch of the United Democratic Front, a mass democratic movement of community organisations and trade unions fighting against

. It was launched in August 1983 with such leaders of the people as Dr

Allan Boesak Allan Aubrey Boesak (born 23 February 1946) is a South African Dutch Reformed Church cleric and politician and anti-apartheid activist. He was sentenced to prison for fraud in 1999 but was subsequently granted an official pardon and reinstated ...

Albertina Sisulu Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu ( Thethiwe; 21 October 1918 – 2 June 2011) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, and the wife of fellow activist Walter Sisulu (1912–2003). She was affectionately known as "Ma Sisulu" throughout her li ...

Helen Joseph Helen Beatrice Joseph (''née'' Fennell) (8 April 1905 – 25 December 1992) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Born in Sussex, England, Helen graduated with a degree in English from the University of London in 1927 and then departe ...

, Joe Marks, Trevor Manuel, Mosiuoa "Terror" Lekota and many others present. The most active social movements and activist organisations in Mitchells Plain after apartheid have been the

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign was a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities in Cape Town, South Africa.

, the

Treatment Action Campaign The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is a South African HIV/AIDS activist organisation which was co-founded by the HIV-positive activist Zackie Achmat in 1998. TAC is rooted in the experiences, direct action tactics and anti-apartheid backgrou ...

and the Mitchells Plain Concerned Hawkers and Traders Association. the Mitchell's Plain Backyarders Association, which had strong links to the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, organised a massive land occupation - The Mitchell's Plain Land Occupation in 2011.

Prominent residents

Nizaam Carr Nizaam Carr (born 4 April 1991) is a South African rugby union footballer who plays either as a flanker, loose forward or number 8 and back rower. He is renowned for his athleticism and linking play. Personal life Carr grew up in Mitchell's ...

is a South African

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 it ...

footballer who grew up in Mitchells Plain. * Athol Williams is a poet and business leader. * Devon Petersen, the most successful South African

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

player, was born in Mitchells Plain. * Nasief Morris, International and National football player (Defender) * Moeneeb Josephs, National Football Player (Goalkeeper) * Sergio Mullins, National Sprinter (100m 200m) * Ricardo Katza, Former National Football Captain * Ethen Sampson, soccer player

Sources

Mitchells Plain Profile
{{Authority control Former Coloured townships in South Africa Suburbs of Cape Town Urban decay in South Africa Townships in the Western Cape