#StaffWriter : Khayelitsha: Mother City’s biggest township is booming

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One of South Africa’s largest shantytowns is continuing to mushroom as dwellers flock the rural area, desperately trying to reap the benefits of its booming township economy.

Khayelitsha, which roughly translate to “new home” in isiXhosa, was built in 1983 and is four decades later still the go-to township for many impoverished blacks. But with a myriad of new vendors and smart businessmen the economy in Khayelitsha is morphing into something sustainable for its residents and visitors.

Khayelitsha, which is roughly situated between two of South Africa’s richest areas; Cape Town and the wine country of Stellenbosch, also boasts with a string of entrepreneurs.

In 2011, Khayelitsha had a smallanyana middle class with a total of 1,400 households who earned more than R25,000 a month.

That is a sizeable increase since 2001, when almost no households earned over R25,000 a month.

As the Mother City’s largest township, Khayelitsha attracts funding from international aid agencies.

But not everything in Khayelitsha is jim-dandy and bonzer.

Murderous assaults and violent affrays are plaguing the township which boasts a population rate of about half a million.

The 2020/21 financial year crime statistics depicted that Khayelitsha, with 265 murders, recorded the highest number of murders for the year.

Delft police precinct followed with 224 murders. Mass killings and drug rings are prevelent in the township. At least nine mass shootings rocked Khayelitsha in 2022. In recent months, anti-crime lobby group Action Society called for the devolution of police powers to the Western Cape in an attempt to do away with the high levels of crime. AfriForum echoed Action Society’s sentiments, saying the SA Police Service has been crippled by weak political leadership, corruption, a lack of training and a lack of accountability “for far too long”.

The civil rights organisation said it was clear that the situation cannot be remedied at national level, as this would be akin to asking the wolf to  watch the sheep.

The two groups also called on members of the public to get involved with their local civilian safety structures to help ensure the safety of their communities.

For tourists Khayelitsha boast with a picturesque beach, Monwabisi. Recently a tourist centre also opened in the township on Look Out Point, or Lookout Hill, one of the highest hills in the area on the corner of Mew Way and Spine Road.

Khayelitsha also has a reliable transport system. Golden Arrow Bus Services, the MyCiti Bus IRT system and Metrorail trains are among the  transit systems in Khayelitsha. 

A host of prominent people hails from Khayelitsha. This includes controversial politicians such as Richard Dyantyi and Andile Lili. Soccer players like Ayanda Patosi, Leo Thethani and Tapelo Xoki are also from the township as well as lesbian activist Funeka Soldaat 

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