34-532: Umlazi is a township in KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa, located south-west of Durban . Organisationally and administratively it forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and its South Municipal Planning Region. It is the fourth largest township in South Africa, after Soweto , Tembisa and Katlehong . Umlazi is the only township in the country that has its own registration plate, which
68-549: A distinct legal meaning in South Africa's system of land title , which carries no racial connotations. Townships for non-whites were also called locations or lokasies in Afrikaans and are often still referred to as such in the smaller towns. The slang term " kasie / kasi ", a popular short version of " lokasie " is also used. Townships sometimes have large informal settlements nearby. During 1900–1950 (roughly),
102-445: A lack of access to basic services such as sewerage, electricity, roads, and clean water, which adversely affects the residents' quality of life. Sewerage, water, and electrical infrastructure within townships are often in need of repair, resulting in a lack of sanitation due to problems with accessibility and availability. Electricity, water, and sewerage are managed by different government departments, resulting in inefficiencies in
136-449: A plot of land that are rented out by the land owner for additional income. Plots of land designed for single-family houses have been turned into plots, that, on average hold six families instead of one. These structures are illegally built in violation of planning and building codes and strain the infrastructure. Governments are loath to act on backyard dwellings, as doing so would result in large-scale displacement of people. A 2001 study of
170-451: A problem in townships and children as young as 12 or 13 get initiated into local gangs. Some see violence and gangs as a way of life and a part of their culture. The weapon of choice for most is a gun and with easy accessibility anyone is able to get one. It is estimated that out of the 14 million guns in circulation, in South Africa, only four million are registered and licensed to legal gun owners. Largest townships in South Africa at
204-545: A township (in the legal sense) is established and then the adjoining townships, with the same name as the original township, and with a numbered "Extension" suffix are later established. For example, the Johannesburg suburb of Bryanston has an extension called Bryanston Extension 3 . In traditionally or historically white areas, the term "suburb" is used for legally-defined residential townships in everyday conversation. A suburb's boundaries are often regarded as being
238-465: Is NUZ. It is divided into 26 sections, A through to Z, with the exception of I, O and X, but with an addition of AA, BB and CC. According to legend, the name Umlazi comes from "umlaza", the Zulu word for the sour acid produced from fermented or sour milk. It is believed that when King Shaka was passing through the area, he refused to drink from a local river claiming it had the taste of "umlaza". The area
272-531: Is a town in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa . The township lies near the junction of the M30 (to Umlazi ) and R603 (to Kingsburgh and Umlaas Road) about 45 km south-west of Durban and 19 km from the Indian Ocean. Derived from Zulu , the name is said to mean place of the round knoll . Umbumbulu is a rural area, bordered by Madundube on
306-771: Is home to AmaZulu FC football club that is based in and around Umlazi. Umlazi has two FET Colleges, Umlazi Coastal College V and BB Campuses, which are the equivalent of American Community Colleges, and a university, Mangosuthu University of Technology. There are schools that produce 100% Matric (Grade 12) pass rate, including Ogwini Comprehensive Technical High School Umlazi Comprehensive Technical High School (ComTech), Menzi High School, Velabahleke High School, Zwelibanzi High School and Qhilika High School. About 30% of homes in Umlazi are informal settlements (tin and wooden shacks). Most of these informal settlements have been demolished and replaced with brand new homes and roads that are part of
340-431: Is mainly attributable to higher and more rapid drop-out rates among the poor, rather than to a lack of initial access to schooling. The formerly white schools uniformly produce better results as their governing bodies are able to raise substantial private funds. These funds are used to get resources that are usually inaccessible for the rural and township schools which survive on the commitment of their teachers. Gangs are
374-557: The Group Areas Act was enacted, which empowered the Governor-General to designate land for the sole use of a specific race. Under this law, black people were evicted from properties that were in areas designated as "white only" and forced to move into segregated townships. Separate townships were established for each of the three designated non-white race groups: black people, Coloureds , and Indians – as per
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#1732772367371408-540: The Population Registration Act, 1950 . Most South African towns and cities have at least one township associated with them. Some old townships have seen rapid development since 1994, with, for instance, wealthy and middle-income areas sprouting in parts of Soweto and Chatsworth . Despite their origins in apartheid South Africa, today the terms township, location, and informal settlement are not used pejoratively. However, policymakers are, as in
442-634: The Witwatersrand area ; 50,000 people lived in Cato Manor in Durban; and an estimated 150,000 black and coloured people lived in townships in Cape Town . Living conditions in the shack township settlements were poor, but they had some advantage over the other more established options, like hostels, of being cheap and largely unregulated by the apartheid-era South African Police . In 1950,
476-425: The 1950s, once again using the term ' slums ' in a highly pejorative way. Informal settlements that are normally self established around regulated townships are faced with several social problems. Most often, the residents of informal settlements do not own the land on which their houses are built. In effect, these houses are built illegally. Construction is informal and unregulated by the government. This results in
510-586: The Mega-Philani Shopping Centre, Kwa-Mnyandu Shopping Centre and Umlazi Mega City Mall which is located just off the freeway that exits to Umlazi. The recently built KwaMnyandu Shopping Centre opened its doors on 5 June 2014. Almost all sections in Umlazi have a clinic and a police station. The King Zwelithini Stadium , which is located on the Griffiths Mxenge Highway, has been revamped for the 2010 FIFA World Cup it
544-843: The Residential Development Project (RDP). Umlazi is serviced by two freeways , namely the N2 Outer Ring Road , running in a north–south direction from KwaDukuza to Port Shepstone and the M4 Inkosi Albert Luthuli Freeway , running in a north–south direction from the R102/M30 interchange towards Durban in the north-east. The main arterial route intersecting Umlazi is the M30 Griffiths Mxenge Highway (previously Mangosuthu Highway) which connects
578-475: The absence of substantial coordination at all stages of the project planning, budgeting, and implementation cycle. The sewer systems within townships are poorly planned and constructed. The population of townships typically grows faster than what the infrastructure was planned for, causing overloads that result in blockages, surges, and overflows. There often are only a limited number of public toilets that are overused, abused, and quickly become health hazards for
612-415: The communities. Another issue is poor access to maintenance activities, which is caused by a lack of space between houses. Some of the areas on the township peripheries or near the riverbanks do not have access to sanitation facilities because they are not connected to the formal waterborne sewerage system. A consequence of inadequate pumping infrastructure and large populations is that the water pressure in
646-514: The construction of new shopping complexes, primary and secondary schools, universities of technology and libraries. The new educational infrastructure is particularly, as an affordable, easily accessible quality secondary education is valuable for many children in Umlazi, particularly with regards to their search for employment following school. Most young residents do not attend tertiary institutions due to their family's limited financial resources. There are now three shopping malls in Umlazi,
680-452: The continuing growth of the townships. Constructing houses in the dried up tributaries is a potential problem in the event of a large storm as the tributary starts to fill up with water again or in case of a backup of sewerage coming into the tributary. The houses built in that area stand the risk of being destroyed by natural occurrences. As the area grows, the tributaries are piped and a number of concrete aprons and gullies are constructed over
714-411: The government's disinclination to encourage power usage by non-residents. Some townships, such as Alexandra and Diepsloot , are built near rivers, and on flood plains . These areas are extremely dense with only tortuous, narrow access, few communal water points and banks of chemical toilets on the peripheries of the settlements. The settlements are beginning to be built in the old tributaries due to
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#1732772367371748-413: The influx of new residents. This led to overcrowding, poor living conditions, thus, contributing to high levels of crime and violence . High rents and overcrowding led to land invasions and the growth of shack settlements, which were largely ignored by the government. By 1950, a large portion of the urban black population lived in townships. In 1950, upwards of 100,000 people were living in townships on
782-426: The majority of the black population in the major urban areas lived in hostels or servants' accommodations, these were provided by employers, and the workers were mostly single men. In the period during and following World War II , urban areas of South Africa experienced a rapid period of urbanisation as the colour bar was relaxed due to the war. Neither employers nor the government built new accommodations or homes for
816-409: The north, Mobeni to the north-east, Malukazi to the south-east, the defunct Durban International Airport and Isipingo to the east, eZimbokodweni and Golokodo to the south and Esidweni, Inwabi and Ehlanzeni to the east. Umlazi, like many townships in the urban areas of Cape Town , Port Elizabeth , Durban , and Johannesburg , is witnessing increased private and government investments, as seen in
850-547: The north-east, and the farming community of Mid-Illovo on the south. In the 1970s and 1980s it was a scene of a local conflict, which saw hundreds murdered, and thousands dislocated. It has since become a picture of serene rural living. The main river running through Umbumbulu is the Ntinyane River , and it is infamous as the site where a clergyman was swept away by the floods in the 1980s, his body never retrieved to this day. This KwaZulu-Natal location article
884-480: The same as the (legal) township boundaries, along with its numbered extensions, and it usually shares its name with the township (with some notable exceptions, such as the Johannesburg suburb known as Rivonia , which is actually the township of Edenburg with numbered extensions called Rivonia Extensions). Occasionally, formerly independent towns, such as Sandton (which itself consists of numerous suburbs), are referred to as "suburbs". Umbumbulu Umbumbulu
918-421: The south-west. Township (South Africa) In South Africa , the terms township and location usually refers to an under-developed , racially segregated urban area, from the late 19th century until the end of apartheid , were reserved for non-whites, namely Black Africans , Coloureds and Indians . Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities. The term township also has
952-566: The time of the 2011 census: The legal meaning of the term "township" in South Africa differs from the popular usage and has a precise legal meaning without any racial connotations. The term is used in land titles and townships are subdivided into erfs (stands). "Township" can also mean a designated area or district, as part of a place name. For instance "Industrial Township" has been used in reference to an industrial area, e.g. "Westmead Industrial Township", in Pinetown , South Africa. Often
986-467: The township called Diepsloot near Johannesburg showed that 24% of the residents lived in brick structures, 43% were in shack areas, and 27% were in backyard shacks. Township schools are often overcrowded, and lack adequate infrastructure. There is a high dropout rate among poor youth, particularly around Grade 9. Despite government interventions, education outcomes remain skewed, with township students continuing to under-perform. This skewed distribution
1020-600: The township with Durban, via the M4, to the north-east and with Umbumbulu to the west. Of importance is also the R102 South Coast Road, bypassing Umlazi to the east and connects it with Durban to the north-east and with Isipingo and Prospecton to the south-east, and the M35 Sipho Mkhize Drive, connecting the southern parts of Umlazi with Lotus Park to the south-east and with Folweni to
1054-423: The townships is very low. Each section of the townships normally has one pump per section. The water is used for everything from washing clothes to cooking, drinking, bathing, and cleaning the house. Having limited water accessible to each section makes it very hard to meet the daily water needs per household. Illegal electricity connections are all-pervasive in the townships with electrical wires strung along
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1088-446: The trees leading to power boxes. Although dangerous, every house in the area has a wire coming out of it and every wire is known by their owner in order to fix problems as soon as they arise. Most of the sub-stations are very unsecured to begin with so having so many additional wires coming from them is very dangerous for the people nearby and the kids playing in the area. The electricity infrastructure has not undergone upgrades because of
1122-513: The tributary into which the communal water points drain. The gullies are then choked with garbage and the tributaries appear to be substantially blocked but this will not hold off the water for very long if a flood comes through. Due to overcrowding, residents choose to build on river banks in hopes of easy access to water and laundry facilities, however, the available water is unsuitable for these purposes due to pollution, and they remain vulnerable to floods. Backyard shacks are additional units on
1156-502: Was called Umlazi after this incident. Umlazi is approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi) south-west of the Durban CBD, between the uMlaza River to the north and uMbokodweni River to the south, with the smaller Siphingo River flowing in the southern parts of the township. It lies at an average altitude of approximately 101 m (331 ft) above sea level in the hills south-east of Durban. Its neighbouring towns are Chatsworth to
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