Manenberg

Manenberg
A view of Manenberg from the corner of Manenberg Avenue in the southern part of the neighbourhood.
Manenberg Show map of Western Cape Manenberg Show map of South Africa Manenberg Show map of Africa  Manenberg shown within Western Cape
Location within Cape Town  Manenberg
Coordinates: 33°59′S 18°33′E / 33.983°S 18.550°E / -33.983; 18.550Coordinates: 33°59′S 18°33′E / 33.983°S 18.550°E / -33.983; 18.550
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
Municipality	City of Cape Town
Main Place	Athlone
Area
• Total	3.35 km2 (1.29 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	52,877
• Density	16,000/km2 (41,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	11.7%
• Coloured	84.3%
• Indian/Asian	0.5%
• White	0.1%
• Other	3.4%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	71.8%
• English	17.8%
• Xhosa	6.8%
• Other	3.6%
Postal code (street)	7764
PO box	7764
Area code	021

Manenberg is a township of Cape Town, South Africa, that was created by the apartheid government for low-income Coloured families in the Cape Flats in 1966 as a result of the forced removal campaign by the National Party. It has an estimated population of 52,000 residents. The area consists of rows of semi-detached houses and project-like flats, known as "korre". The township is located about 20 km away from the city centre of Cape Town. It is separated from neighbouring Nyanga and Gugulethu townships by a railway line to the east and from Hanover Park by the Sand Industria industrial park to the west and Heideveld to the north.

Planning for a Coloured township to receive forcibly relocated people during the height of implementation of Group Areas Act by the apartheid government of South Africa began in 1964. Manenberg was established in 1966 with residents predominantly coming from areas designated by the apartheid government as white such as Constantia, District Six, Cape Town city centre, the Bo-Kaap, Wynberg, Crawford, Sea Point, and Lansdowne. Provision for public facilities and access to resources and jobs in the rest of the city was designed to keep residents at disadvantage relative to white areas.

The building phase of the neighbourhood lasted from 1966 to 1970 with completion of 5,621 homes for 33,922 residents at a cost of R7,386,817 (roughly equivalent to R460,000,000 in 2017). By 1975 the area consisted of about seven corner shops and two liquor outlets. There were no adequate commercial facilities or community services. A railway line from the black township of Gugulethu divides Manenberg. Nyanga Railway Station was established to service the growing population of Gugulethu and Manenberg. Later in the mid-1980s, because of housing shortages and problems around squatting in Manenberg, 364 additional buildings known as maisonettes (or as ‘infill scheme’) were built. These had three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, hot water, and a toilet and were regarded as better accommodation units.