Township (South Africa)

In South Africa, the terms township and location usually refer to the often underdeveloped urban living areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of apartheid, were reserved for non-white residents, namely Indians and black people (Africans and "Coloureds"). Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities. The term township also has a distinct legal meaning in South Africa's system of land title, which carries no racial connotations.

During the apartheid era, 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 the Population Registration Act, 1950. Legislation that enabled the apartheid government to do this included the Group Areas Act.

Townships for non-whites were also called locations or lokasies in Afrikaans, and are often still referred to by that name in smaller towns. The slang term "kasie", a popular short version of "lokasie" is also used. Townships sometimes have large informal settlements nearby.

Despite their origins in apartheid South Africa, today the terms township, location and informal settlement are not used pejoratively. However policy makers are, as in the 1950s, once again using the term 'slums' in a highly pejorative way.

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