Namakgale

Namakgale
Namakgale
Coordinates	23 ° 56 ′  S , 31 ° 7 ′  E Coordinates: 23 ° 56 ′  S , 31 ° 7 ′  E
Basic data
Country	South Africa
province	Limpopo
District	Mopani
local community	Ba-Phalaborwa
Residents	36,365 (2011)
Special features: former township

Namakgale is a suburb and former township of the city of Phalaborwa in the Limpopo Province in northeastern South Africa , 14 kilometers from the Kruger National Park .

economy

The region is one of the poorest in South Africa. The 36,365 inhabitants of the place are dependent on the workload in the surrounding mining companies on copper , phosphates and vermiculite as well as the farms. Many people have been living in precarious conditions below the subsistence level for decades ; unemployment is high.

Employment opportunities have been focused primarily on mining companies such as FOSKOR and the Palabora Mining Company for decades . At the end of 1965, 7,247 blacks were employed in the Phalaborwa mining industry, of which 3,878 were only employed as temporary workers.

The former township of Namakgale was rebuilt around 1966 on the site of an already known area of ​​social unrest in what was then the Makushane Reserve on the initiative of the Department of Bantu Administration and Development .

Social situation

The age group of 16 to 30 year olds is most marked by unemployment. Children, young people and single parents - in most cases women - are particularly affected by infrastructural and social disadvantages.

In 2009, the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality stopped the drinking water supply to 24 schools in Namakgale because the water consumption for the past 5 years was not paid for. The service was discontinued before the annual exams, which led to significant protests among students and parents. The Human Rights Institute of South Africa criticized the decision of the municipal administration for violating the constitutional rights of those concerned.

Since many young people see little future prospect for themselves, their motivation to get a good education is low. This situation also led to excesses of violence at a school in 2010, with angry pupils setting fire to the school building in two classrooms after a pupil meeting. Pupils rated their learning situation at this high school as particularly problematic and found the climate of the tense situation to be a hindrance.

In 2011, a teacher was seriously injured by her husband in two gunshots in front of pupils and colleagues in a primary school .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Namakgale distances (en)
2. ^ SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1966. Johannesburg 1967, p. 158
3. ↑ Alex Matlala: Municipality slated for cutting water supply to 24 schools . Reporting October 21, 2009 Sowetan live.
4. ↑ Alex Matlala: enraged pupils burn down CLASSES. TWO classrooms at the Sebalamakgolo High School in Namakgale, outside Phalaborwa, were completely burnt down yesterday . Reporting March 3rd, 2010 Sowetan live.
5. ↑ Alex Matlala: pupils back at school after fire . Reporting March 4th 2010 Sowetan live.
6. ↑ Alex Matlala: Teacher shot, hubby commits suicide . Reporting February 15, 2011 Sowetan live.