Township (South Africa)

The town of Hankey (foreground), with accompanying township (background) on the edge of the town.
Children in a township near Cape Town in 1989
Children in a township near Cape Town

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.[1][2] The term township also has 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.

  1. ^ Pettman, Charles (1913). Africanderisms; a glossary of South African colloquial words and phrases and of place and other names. Longmans, Green and Co. p. 298.
  2. ^ International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (PDF). p. 406.

© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search