Atteridgeville (Quoted from Wikipedia )

Atteridgeville

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Atteridgeville
—  Town  —
Atteridgeville Location of Atteridgeville
Coordinates: 25°46′24″S 28°04′17″E / 25.77333°S 28.07139°E / -25.77333; 28.07139Coordinates: 25°46′24″S 28°04′17″E / 25.77333°S 28.07139°E / -25.77333; 28.07139
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Metropolitan Municipality	Tshwane
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)

Atteridgeville, part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, is a township located on the west of Pretoria, South Africa. It is bordered to the west by Saulsville, to the east by Proclamation Hill; to the south by Laudium and to the north by Lotus Gardens.

History

Atteridgeville was established in 1939^[1] for black people by the government, after much lobbying by Mrs. Myrtle Patricia Atteridge. The Apartheid Government was voted in in 1948 after Atteridgeville was founded. The first occupants were moved to Atteridgeville on 26 May 1940.^[1] Mrs. Myrtle Patricia Atteridge, philanthropist, black sash activist, Pretoria City Councillor and deputy mayoress of Pretoria endeavoured to improve living conditions of Blacks who were previously living in appaling conditions in Marabastad. Atteridgeville provided brick housing; lighting; toilets etc. Later, to further enhance living standards the township was also connected by train to Pretoria CBD. Schools, creches, clinics etc. were to follow. 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, Bantule and other areas around Pretoria.^[2]
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.^[3]
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 for his part in the attack by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.^[4][5]
In March 2008 seven people were killed in xenophobic attacks when their shops and shacks were set alight.^[6]

Languages

Atteridgeville is a diverse township whose residents speak many languages. The most commonly spoken language is Sesotho, which is closely related to Setswana and Sepedi. A mixture of languages such as Afrikaans, Sesotho, English and isiZulu are sometimes fused together to form what is now a unique language-style of the township with a slight inclination to a slang known as tsotsitaal.
Some spoken languages in the community are:

• Xitsonga
• Sesotho
• isiZulu
• isiNdebele
• Tshivenda

 Subdivisions

Atteridgeville is commonly known as "Phelindaba" or "Pheli" which is an isiZulu expression for "End of Story". Atteridgeville is so nicknamed because of its proximity to the now defunct nuclear power sites of "Phelindaba" and "Valindaba" (Close the Story).^{[citation needed]} Some areas of the township are divided in terms of ethnic groupings, a system of housing engineered and instituted by the apartheid government.^{[citation needed]} Some of these areas were nicknamed by local residents.
Nicknames:

• Tlhala mpya - Newly built houses callously nicknamed "divorce the dog" in Northern Sotho.
• Ou Stad- Sesotho speaking residents are concentrated in this area.
• Ten Morgan - Same demographics as Ou Stad.
• Black Rock - A blurred concetration of Sepedi and Xitsonga speaking residents.
• Matebeleng (derog.) - isiNdebele and isiZulu speaking residents are based here.
• Extension 3,4,5,6 - Newly developed areas defying past ethnic segregation.
• Selbourne Side - Xitsonga and Tshivenda Speaking people
• Ghost Town - Areas near the old graveyard of Atteridgeville
• Harlem/Mshongo - Atteridgeville-west informal settlement
• Skoopers - Lotus Gardens

 Places of interest

• Ga-Mothakga Resort - (SS Mendi Memorial Site)
• Atteridgiville park - Popular jazz artists gather here each year and perform to a crowded audience
• Saulsville Arena - Hosts music concerts, religious meetings and other major local activities
• Atteridgeville Super Stadium - Where Premier Soccer League PSL matches and other cups are held under SAFA as well as a temporary home to SuperSports United FC