Langa, the oldest township in our province, is commemorating 100 years of existence this year. Langa was named after the Xhosa chief Langalibalele, who was imprisoned on Robben Island in 1873 for resisting the Natal government.
The year-long celebrations started on Tuesday. The “Tuesday Special” served to honour women and men from Langa who helped put the area on the world map.
Although Langa’s establishment is stated online as having happened in 1927, one of the organising committee members, Alfred Magwaca, says that the move into the area was in April 1923, which is why the celebrations are taking place this year.
Magwaca says the history of Langa will be shared through exhibitions set up throughout the year.
On Tuesday, the first person honoured was Brenda Fassie, a singer-songwriter born in Langa in 1964. Fassie’s albums won her South African Music Awards and reached platinum status before she passed away in 2004.
Other icons from Langa include Dr. Latozi Madosini, Ringo Madlingozi, cricketer Temba Bavuma, Sylvia Ncediwe Mdunyelwa, Thoko Ntshinga, and Hamilton Nake, a self-taught surgeon who performed the first human heart transplant alongside Dr. Christiaan Barnard.
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A variety of activities and programmes will be run from April to December, says Magwaca.
“For now, we have started with acknowledging and honouring the legends and icons to have come out of the township that have made this area to be the attraction that it has become,” he explains.
“We are however not honouring the dead but also the living and the younger generation that is making inroads in their respective sectors and are putting the township on the world map,” he continues.
Another organiser, Siseko Mngxali, emphasises Langa’s rich history and the importance of sharing it with younger generations.
According to Mngxali, the area has received the most visitors after Soweto and has played an important role in the national history of black townships
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Picture: Wikipedia / Discott