Gugulethu Seven Memorial 02
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Gugulethu 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 ...
in
Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
,
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 ...
and is around 20km from
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 ...
. Its name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is
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 ...
for ''our pride / our hope.'' The area was the third township to be established in Cape Town, after
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 ...
and Langa.


History

The name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is
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 ...
for ''our pride/ our hope''. The establishment of the township began in 1959 as the government was preparing to forcibly remove blacks in Kensington and other suburbs. Africans were officially banned from
District Six District Six (Afrikaans: ''Distrik Ses'') is a residential neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa, located next to the city's Cape Town CBD, CBD. In 1959, people of color were banned from the area and most of them were resettled in Gugulet ...
in 1964 and were forcibly removed to Gugulethu. Because of the large number of blacks who had been residents in District Six, Gugulethu quickly became the most populous township in the
Cape Flats The Cape Flats () 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 lies within the larger geo ...
. The predominant language in Gugulethu is
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 ...
. Gugulethu is passionately called or referred to as "Gugs" by the locals, which is a nickname stemming from the shortening of the name Gugulethu. Black residents living in Windermere were forcibly moved to Gugulethu when it was declared a black township. Windermere was declared by Apartheid regime to be a colored area. Gugulethu was one of the first townships in Cape Town to have a community information technology Center to provide training in multimedia and youth development.


Places of interest

The 'Gugulethu Seven Memorial' was built to commemorate the life of seven activists that were ambushed and killed by the South African security forces on March 3, 1986. The activists were members of uMkhonto weSizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). The seven murdered were Jabulani Godfery Miya, Zandisile Zenith Mjobo, Zola Alfred Swelani, Mandla Simon Mxinwa, Themba Mlifi, Zabonke, John Konile, and Christopher Piet. On Human Rights Day 2000, the memorial was unveiled. *The Cape Town Jazz Safari is a tour which highlights musical history and jazz in Gugulethu. *Gugulethu Square was created in 2009 as a central business district in the township. *Gugulethu Indoor Sports Complex is an indoor all year round community facility. *
Mzoli's Mzoli's was a butchery in Gugulethu, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. Since Mzoli's opened in early 2003, the restaurant had become a popular gathering spot for Cape Town residents and a tourist attraction. It was praised ...
was a butchery in Gugulethu. Customers bought meat that is cooked on the spot and accompanied by music. It is stated that it attracted about 30,000 people in a single weekend. *Maboneng Township Arts Experience in Gugulethu and Langa. Tours that turn homes into art galleries where local artists and crafters turn their homes into art galleries. This is an entrepreneurship project. *Ntonga Music School – in Gugulethu.


Notable people

*
Loyiso Gola Loyiso Gola (born 16 May 1983) is a South African stand-up and TV comedian. He is the co-creator and anchor of the late-night satirical news television series '' Late Nite News with Loyiso Gola'' on e.tv and eNCA, launched in 2010, and has per ...
,
stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...
*
Ayabulela Konqobe Ayabulela Konqobe Magqwaka (born 12 January 1996) is a South African football (soccer) midfielder who plays for Chippa United. Early life career He hails from Gugulethu on the Cape Flats. Club career Besides his native South Africa, Konqobe ...
, footballer *
Sindiwe Magona Sindiwe Magona (born 27 August 1943) is a South African writer. Early life Magona is a native of the former Transkei region, South Africa. She grew up in Gugulethu, a Cape Town township, and worked as a servant (domestic), domestic while complet ...
, author * Abigail Mbalo-Mokoena, restaurateur * Mandisa Monakali, the founder and executive director of Ilitha Labantu *
Bantu Mzwakali Bantu Mzwakali (born 9 November 1993) is a South African football midfielder who plays as midfielder for Saudi Arabian club Al-Shaeib. Career Mzwakali started his career with Ajax Cape Town. He hails from Gugulethu on the Cape Flats. IK Br ...
, footballer * Thando Mngomeni, former
South Africa national football team The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Bafana Bafana (The Boys in Zulu), the ...
player *
Siv Ngesi Sivuyile Ngesi (born 28 October 1985) is a South African actor, comedian, presenter, and producer. Early life Ngesi was born to a Xhosa family of four children in Gugulethu in the east of Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislati ...
, actor, comedian, presenter *
Nobulumko Nkondlo Nobulumko Degracia Nkondlo is a South African African National Congress politician who has served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since November 2016. She succeeded former ANC provincial leader Marius Fransman. Background ...
, politician,
Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament In the Western Cape province of South Africa, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) is the designation given to members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.{{cite web , url=http://www.wcpp.gov.za/content.aspx?pageId=f2264ae2-735f-4add-b532-336 ...
*
Ray Ntlokwana Mvuyiswa Renek “Ray” Ntlokwana (5 May 1937 – 20 July 2000) was a South African actor from Gugulethu, who was affectionately known as “Velaphi” following his lead role in the SABC Xhosa comedy, Velaphi, a name he was associated wi ...
, actor * Jonathan Ntutu, para-athlete & paralympian, South Africa's fastest ever para-athlete *
Tony Yengeni Tony Sithembiso Yengeni (born 11 October 1954) is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from May 1994 to March 2003, including as Chief Whip ...
, politician, former
Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...
of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...


Crime

According to data collected by the
South African Institute of Race Relations The South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is a research and policy organisation in South Africa. The IRR was founded in 1929 to improve and report upon race relations in South Africa between the politically dominant White South Africa ...
(SAIRR) over 700 people were murdered in Gugulethu between 2005 and 2010. "This amounts to one murder every two-and-a-half days for five consecutive years." In a 2017 study of the 50 most violent cities in the world, Cape Town ranked number 15.


Notable incidents

*In March 1986, South Africa's Apartheid security murdered seven young black men. The incident became known as The Gugulethu Seven. The seven men were: Zandisile Zenith Mjobo, Zola Alfred Swelani, Mandla Simon Mxinwa, Godfrey Jabulani Miya, Themba Mlifi, Zabonke John Konile and Christopher "Rasta" Piet. They were members of the military wing of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
known as
Umkhonto we Sizwe uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...
. *In 2017, Major-General Andre Lincoln stated during his testimony while under cross-examination in the
Western Cape High Court The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the ...
that police officers removed evidence from the scenes of government-ordered crimes such as The Gugulethu Seven in the 1980s. *In August 1993, Gugulethu was the site of the violent murder of a young white American woman,
Amy Biehl Amy Elizabeth Biehl (April 26, 1967 – August 25, 1993) was a Fulbright Scholar and American graduate of Stanford University and an anti-Apartheid activist in South Africa who was murdered by a black mob shouting anti-white slurs at her in ...
, in the upheaval following the official end of
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 ...
and before the multi-racial election of 1994. In 1998, four men were convicted of Amy's murder. They were pardoned 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 ac ...
. Ms. Biehl's family supported the release of the four men. They started the
Amy Biehl Foundation Trust The Amy Biehl Foundation Trust was the organization established in Cape Town, South Africa by Linda and Peter Biehl commemorate their daughter Amy Biehl, a white American anti-apartheid activist who was killed by a black mob during racial violence ...
in the townships to work with youth. The foundation's goal to empower young disadvantaged youth by using education and culture to deter crime and drugs. An Amy Biehl Memorial site was created in Gugulethu and tours into the township to see the memorial and visit some of the schools where programs were created by the Amy Biehl Foundation. *In November 2010,
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
tourist
Anni Dewani Anni may refer to: People * The popular name of Mohamed Nasheed (born 1967), third president of the second republic of the Maldives * Anni Anwander, former West German slalom canoeist * Anni Daulter, American cookbook writer * Anni Dewani (1982 ...
was murdered in Gugulethu while on her honeymoon. Anni Dewani's husband became a suspect in the trial of her murder. He fought a three-and-a-half-year battle against extradition to South Africa. Accusations and confusions by the accused suspects in the murder that the car-jacking and crime were staged by the billionaire husband
Shrien Dewani Anni Ninna Dewani ( Hindocha; 12 March 1982 – 13 November 2010) was a Swedish woman of Indian origin who was murdered while on her honeymoon in South Africa after the taxi in which she and her husband Shrien Dewani were traveling was hijac ...
. *On June 10, 2014, 62-year-old Mbuyiselo Manona was murdered in Gugulethu by Andrew Chimboza. Chimboza stabbed Manona multiple times. Various news outlets stated that Andrew ate Manona's heart. Chimboza denied it. Chimboza pleaded guilty at the Western Cape High Court of stabbing Mbuyiselo Manona. He did not mention in court anything about removing or eating Manona's heart. *On the evening of the 2 November 2020 the Gugulethu massacre took place at a home in NY78 in which 8 people died and one was injured.


Organisations and projects in Gugulethu

*
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 backgro ...
*
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.


See also

* The Gugulethu Seven


References

{{Cape Town, communities Suburbs of Cape Town Townships in the Western Cape