Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced plans to mark Langa’s 100th anniversary this year.
On Human Rights Day, the mayor spoke at the Guga S’Thebe Cultural Centre in Langa about the City’s #Langa100 plans, which include restorations to historical and tourist attractions, precinct improvements, public participation in new hero memorials and a series of community events.
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“This year we celebrate one hundred years of Langa, of people’s stories, history, culture and heritage,” said Mayor Hill-Lewis. “Langa has been a crucial part of Cape Town’s fabric for a full century, and I have no doubt that the next hundred years will deliver an even more impressive list of achievements and contributions from this community.”
According to the mayor, the City wants to guarantee that Langa is ready to capitalise on its commercial and tourism prospects in order to provide more jobs and opportunities for more people.
He said that Langa is close to the city centre, airport and key transportation lines and that it has a well-established culinary and hospitality industry.
“Local historical and cultural attractions can play a big role in bringing tourist revenue to Langa,” said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
“The City has already undertaken repairs and maintenance work on the old historic Pass Office building,” he added. “At the Langa Memorial Site, restoration work is due to be completed within three months.”
The City is also working on a feasibility study for converting the old single men’s quarters into a multi-purpose area. This project will involve community consultations on the best uses for this land.
“While most people associate 21 March with Sharpeville in 1960, the same day is etched into Langa’s history too, as thousands of Langa residents gathered that day—without their passbooks—to march to the Langa police station, about 200 meters down the road. At least three people died—some eyewitnesses put the figure higher—and many more were injured as police opened fire on protesters here in Langa. A horrible, terrible tragedy,” the mayor explained.
“We dedicate today to Langa’s fallen heroes, and we acknowledge the contributions that so many talented Langa individuals have made to Cape Town and South Africa over the years,” he added.
During his address, Mayor Hill-Lewis reflected on notable Langa citizens who have made significant contributions to politics, music, culture and sports over the previous century.
These include the much-loved Ma Brrrr—Brenda Fassie; the talented Tsolekile cousins: Thami, a Proteas cricketer, and Lungile, a South African hockey player; footballer Thabo Mngomeni; and playwright and theatre director Fatts Dike, the first black woman in South Africa to have a play published.
Temba Bavuma, the current national cricket captain and one of Langa’s proudest sons, is also marking Langa’s centenary with a recent run of back-to-back test hundreds.
“One of the potential projects we’d like to introduce during a public participation process is the idea of a new Langa Heroes Memorial along King Langalibalele Road, where the names—and possibly hand prints of those still alive—of Langa heroes can be displayed and added to as a new generation of heroes emerges. Hollywood has its walk of fame. Langa could have its road of heroes.”
“I want to be very clear that we want to involve the Langa community in decisions by the City on future projects, including elements of our centenary celebration plans for Langa. So over the next three months, we will conduct a public participation process to ensure the needs and wishes of residents are taken into consideration,” said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
In addition, the City is organising a variety of community events to commemorate Langa’s centennial, including a sports festival and a three-day open-air festival.
It plans to close King Langalibalele Street in front of the Guga S’thebe Centre in September and stage a street music festival to showcase Langa’s music and people to the rest of the globe.
These preparations are meant to supplement community actions commemorating the anniversary and ensure stakeholder support and collaboration.
According to EWN, Langa ward councillor Lwazi Phakade stated that while the City’s recognition was appreciated, they would like to see further development within the township and welcomed its plans to celebrate the township’s centenary.
“So out of all the celebrations, we also want to see infrastructure developments in Langa and business developments that will also ignite passion within young people that are in Langa to end gangsterism and crime within our community,” councillor Phakade said.
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Picture: @geordinhl / Twitter