| Laudium | |
|---|---|
| — Suburb — | |
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Laudium
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Gauteng |
| Metropolitan municipality | City of Tshwane |
| Elevation | 1,445 m (4,744 ft) |
| Time zone | South Africa Standard Time (UTC+2) |
| Post code | 0037 |
| Dialing code | 12 |
Laudium is an Indian township southwest of central Pretoria, in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.
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The original name for Laudium was Claudius, (originally reserved for White residents), named after Claudius Marais de Vries who owned a farm called Mooiplats and was a former mayor of Pretoria.
Laudium was created by the Apartheid government as part of their policy aimed at moving ethnic groups out of Marabastad and central Pretoria, which were zoned as 'White Areas' following the passage if the Group Areas Act. Laudium was proclaimed an Indian township in 1961. As for its former inhabitants, older aerial photographs still show remains of circular type dwellings to the west of Laudium.
The eastern portion of the original Claudius retained its name and white population for a time, but the white population of Claudius has long since been displaced by Indians (it was eventually also declared an Indian area by the Apartheid government, to reduce housing shortages in Laudium), and Claudius has effectively become an extension of Laudium.
The boundary between Laudium and Claudius is not widely known, even by residents of the two areas.
During 1981, an Umkhonto weSizwe rocket attack on the Voortrekkerhoogte (now Thaba Tshwane) military base was launched from Laudium.[1] The homes of local politicians who supported Apartheid were also bombed in the 1980s.
Although Laudium was initially part of Pretoria, it was incorporated into Centurion following the end of apartheid. Centurion, including Laudium, was incorporated into the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in 2000.
Dolomitic sinkholes occasionally cause significant property damage in Laudium.
Laudium has roughly equal numbers of Hindu and Muslim residents, with a large number of mosques and temples, the largest and oldest mosque being the PMT Jumma Masjid in Jewel Street. Many of the Muslim residents are Memons or Surtis. There are also many recent South Asian (Indian and Pakistani) residents, who immigrated to South Africa after the end of Apartheid.
Laudium is a relatively wealthy area (which is unusual for a township), with very large mansions visible from the R55 road (although technically many of these homes are in Claudius, not Laudium).
An economically deprived[1] area of Laudium (described in an academic paper as a "ghetto"[2]), informally called White Blocks (named after their paint colour), with single and multi-family government-built dwelling units is situated in the western part of Laudium. However, the Indian township of Lotus Gardens was established in the early 1990s, north of Church Street, and many Indian families from White Blocks were relocated there, and some units were torn down (Lotus Gardens developed into a multiracial suburb). White Blocks continues to exist though the units are no longer exclusively painted white. The Laudium Police Station is in White Blocks, in a converted unit.
Another public housing development, in Extension 2, consisting of council flats, was later sold to residents, and is called Himalaya Heights.
After the end of Apartheid, many residents of Laudium moved to the neighbouring (formerly whites-only) suburbs of Erasmia and Christoburg which lie directly south of Laudium, and, eventually, a link road was constructed, and later tarred, allowing for direct travel between the suburbs (previously, the only way to travel between Laudium and Erasmia was a circuitious route via the R55), and by the time of the 2001 Census, Indians made up almost 66% of the population of Erasmia and Christoburg, having largely displaced their white residents[3] in the preceding ten years.
Significant numbers of more affluent Indian residents began relocating out of Laudium, to newly established nearby security estates in Centurion in the late 2000s.
The black township of Atteridgeville lies directly north of Laudium, although the two areas are separated by a series of hills, and no direct tarred road link exists between the two.
Laudium has 3 extensions which were completed in 1976, 1978 and 1983, respectively.
A squatter camp, established post-apartheid, called Itireleng lies to the west of Laudium.
Laudium has a large number of government schools. However, since the end of Apartheid, most Indian children from Laudium have begun attending private religious schools, or schools in formerly white areas. While the government schools continue to be staffed mostly by Indian teachers, most of the pupils in these schools are black and commute daily from black townships.
There is also an Islamic educational institute which specialises in teaching Islamic Sciences called the Sunni Darul Uloom Pretoria
The Transvaal College of Education, which trained Indian teachers in the former Transvaal province was moved to a large campus in Laudium. However, after the end of apartheid, the college was deemed redundant and closed down (Indian teachers were no longer barred from colleges formerly used by white teachers). The college campus is now used by the Rosina Sedibane Sports School.
The Laudium Hospital, a state hospital created under apartheid for Indians from Laudium and surrounding areas, closed down, and is now the Laudium Community Health Centre.
Laudium has a number of private medical practitioners and pharmacies.
Laudium lies west of the R55 road, which links Laudium to central Pretoria as well as Centurion. A dual carriageway links Laudium with central Pretoria, while the deteriorated single-carriageway link to Centurion was being upgraded as of 2011. Direct freeway access is limited.
Road links to the economically important eastern suburbs of Pretoria are poor, usually requiring drivers to traverse the city centre or rat run across the Thaba Tshwane military base.
Public transport links are limited, and, although limited municipal bus services were introduced following the end of apartheid, minibus taxis remain the primary mode of public transport. Bus services to Johannesburg were available during the apartheid era (The Laudium Bus Service), but are no longer available.
Laudium is served by the free, weekly Laudium Sun[4] tabloid, and also has a Muslim-oriented community radio station called Radio 1584.