Cape Flats
| Cape Flats | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 34 ° 1 ′ S , 18 ° 37 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Western cape | |||
| metropolis | City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA toilet | ||
| founding | 1950s | ||
The Cape Flats ( The Flats for short ; Afrikaans : Die Kaapse Vlakte ; German for example: Flachland am Kap) are a densely populated area in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality in the South African province of Western Cape . From the 1950s, residential areas for black South Africans and Coloreds who had been driven from the center of the city were created on the then uninhabited area .
geography
The Cape Flats are a flat, sandy area southeast of central Cape Town . The sand is at Aeolian been deposited operations and is native to the Pliocene is regressive changing Atlantic coastal areas by melting processes of the Antarctic ice sheet. The Cape Flats are located on the land bridge between the Cape Peninsula and the rest of the African continent. False Bay is located in the south of the Cape Flats . Geomorphologically, they belong to the Sandveld . To the north, the geographical settlement limit is unclear. Occasionally, other Cape Town housing developments for Coloreds and black South Africans are included in the Cape Flats, such as Langa , Nyanga and Athlone in the north. In a narrower sense, however, the area only includes about the southern half of the land bridge. In the west of the area the terrain rises to the mountainous heights of the Cape Peninsula, in the east it rises slowly to the mountain ranges in the wine region . The area has a Mediterranean climate . Over a million people live in the Cape Flats.
history
From 1827 the area was planted with neophytes to set the sand that made the way from Cape Town into the interior difficult. Above all, they included Australian species such as the willow leaf acacia ( Acacia saligna ). The plantings continued until after 1875 and resulted in a significant reduction in sand flow. In return, however, there was a biological invasion by the newly introduced plants.
Except for the coastal strip, the area remained almost uninhabited until around 1950. Antelopes lived among the acacias. The South African army used the area as a training ground. From the 1950s onwards, the Cape Flats were built on in quick succession. The apartheid government created dwellings there for non-white South Africans who, according to the provisions of the 1950 Group Areas Act, were no longer allowed to live in central Cape Town, for example in District Six . The townships Gugulethu and Crossroads in Cape Flats and Khayelitsha were built for black South Africans in the early 1980s . Many black people, especially Xhosa , lived illegally in the settlements because they actually had to live in the remote Bantustans . Well-known townships of the Coloreds were Manenberg and Mitchell's Plain . The living conditions were mostly bad. Due to the forced relocations, the crime rate increased dramatically.
With the end of apartheid, racial segregation was lifted. Nevertheless, there has been no significant mixing in the Cape Flats settlements since then. The population continues to grow due to rural exodus , especially from the Eastern Cape Province .
In July 2019, units of the South African National Defense Force were stationed in some districts of Cape Flats for three months in order to be able to take action against gang crime more effectively .
Culture
The Cape Flats play a role in the cultural development of South Africa. The jazz piece Mannenberg by Abdullah Ibrahim and Basil Coetzee , named after the township of Manenberg, became a hymn for the oppressed South Africans. The Cape Flats are a center of South African hip hop .
The religions in the Cape Flats are diverse. This includes a large Muslim community.
traffic
The N2 runs through the Cape Flats in a north-west-south-east direction, the M7 in a north-south direction and the R300, the Cape Flats Freeway, crosses the N2.
A line of the Metrorail Cape Town is called Cape Flats Line and connects the west of the Cape Flats with the city center and the Cape Peninsula. The east of the Cape Flats is connected via the Bonteheuwel Line .
The International Airport Cape Town is located in the north of the Cape Flats.
Others
On the Cape Flats there is since 1978 the nature reserve Cape Flats Nature Reserve, which from the University of the Western Cape will be supported.
Personalities
- Tony Schilder (1937-2010), jazz musician, lived temporarily in the Cape Flats
- Basil Coetzee (1944–1998), jazz musician, lived temporarily in Manenberg, Cape Flats
- Trevor Manuel (* 1956), politician, grew up in the Cape Flats
- Hilton Schilder (* 1959), jazz musician, born in Lotus River, Cape Flats
literature
- Chris Ledochowski: Cape Flats Details. Life and Culture in the Townships of Cape Town. Unisa, Pretoria 2003, ISBN 978-0620304580 .
- Gladys Thomas: Avalon Court. Dramatic Scenes on the Cape Flats. Skotaville, Johannesburg 1992, ISBN 0947479767 .
- Lantana: Children's Voices from the Cape Flats. umSinsi Press, Durban 2001, ISBN 1869003357 .
Web links
- Private website on the Cape Flats (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Nick Norman, Gavin Whitefield: Geological Journeys . Struik Publishers, Cape Town 2006, pp. 70, 72. ISBN 1-77007-062-1
- ^ Philips' College Atlas for Southern Africa. George Philip & Son Ltd., London 1976, ISBN 0-540-05320-1 , p. 32
- ^ History of Cape Town , accessed August 18, 2011
- ↑ Pumza Fihlani: South Africa deploys army to gang-hit Cape Town. bbc.com of July 12, 2019 (English), accessed on July 13, 2019
- ↑ Report from BBC News , accessed August 15, 2011
- ↑ information on sahistory.org.za (English), accessed August 17, 2011
- ↑ Official website ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)