Marabastad, Pretoria

Marabastad
Marabastad exhibition in the National Cultural History museum in Boom street, Pretoria
Marabastad Show map of Gauteng Marabastad Show map of South Africa Marabastad Show map of Africa  Marabastad shown within Gauteng
Coordinates: 25°44′28″S 28°10′33″E / 25.7410°S 28.1759°E / -25.7410; 28.1759Coordinates: 25°44′28″S 28°10′33″E / 25.7410°S 28.1759°E / -25.7410; 28.1759
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Municipality	City of Tshwane
Main Place	Pretoria
Area
• Total	0.57 km2 (0.22 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	339
• Density	590/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	93.2%
• Coloured	1.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	0.3%
• Other	4.7%
First languages (2011)
• English	15.8%
• Xhosa	12.5%
• Tsonga	11.1%
• Southern Ndebele	6.1%
• Other	54.5%
Postal code (street)	0002

Marabastad (also called Asiatic Bazaar or Location) is a business area near the city centre of Pretoria, South Africa. The original Maraba Village, situated just to the south of the present Marabastad, was founded and ruled by the Ndebele Chief Maraba. The name Marabastad is the Afrikaans word meaning Maraba City.

Marabastad was a culturally diverse community, with the Hindu Mariamman Temple arguably being its most prominent landmark. Like the residents of other racially diverse areas in South Africa, such as District Six, "Fietas" and Sophiatown, the inhabitants of Marabastad were relocated to single-race townships further away from the city centre. These removals were due to Apartheid laws like the Group Areas Act. Unlike Sophiatown, Fietas and District Six, it was not bulldozed, but it retained many of its original buildings, and became primarily a business district, with most shops still owned by the Indians who had also lived there previously. Some property was however owned by the city council and the government, resulting in limited development taking place there. In addition, a large shopping complex was built to house Indian-owned shops.

The black residents of Marabastad were relocated to Atteridgeville (1945), the Coloured residents to Eersterus (1963), and the Indian residents to Laudium (1968). There are plans to revive once-picturesque Marabastad, and to reverse years of urban decay and neglect, although few seem to have been implemented as of 2005.