Crawford, Cape Town

Crawford
Crawford  Crawford shown within Western Cape
Location within Cape Town  Crawford
Coordinates: 33°58′46″S 18°30′24″E / 33.9795°S 18.5068°E / -33.9795; 18.5068Coordinates: 33°58′46″S 18°30′24″E / 33.9795°S 18.5068°E / -33.9795; 18.5068
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
Municipality	City of Cape Town
Area[1]
• Total	0.73 km2 (0.28 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total	3,979
• Density	5,500/km2 (14,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
• Black African	3.5%
• Coloured	58.9%
• Indian/Asian	24.4%
• White	6.1%
• Other	7.1%
First languages (2011)[1]
• English	91.6%
• Afrikaans	6.1%
• Other	2.2%
Postal code (street)	7770
PO box	7780
Area code	021

Crawford is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, located to the east of the City Centre (CBD) on the Cape Flats to the south of the N2 highway. The suburb is surrounded by the suburbs of Lansdowne, Rondebosch East, Athlone, Belthorn Estate, Rylands, and Belgravia. The main roads through the area are (north to south) Jan Smuts Drive (M17) and (east to west) Turf Hall Road (M24) linking to the M5. Thornton Road was for many years the main thoroughfare for this suburb and a hotbed for anti-apartheid activity in 1976 and 1985. Thornton Road is the location of the Trojan Horse Memorial in honour of those killed in 1985. Crawford is served by a railway station of the same name on the Cape Flats Line.

Alexander Sinton High School, Alicedale Primary and Thornton Road Primary School are in Crawford. The College of Cape Town (previously Hewat Teacher Training College) is also located in the town.

Crawford is the home of City Park Stadium, home of the historic City and Suburban Rugby Football Union where a number of well-known Cape Flats rugby union teams played, including Universal Rugby Football Club, Progress, Perseverance and others. City Park also hosted the annual City Fair and for some time was the location for the annual Christmas Band competition. Baseball and softball were also played there during the summer months.

More than thirty thousand people attended the funeral of Imam Abdullah Haron in Crawford. He had been arrested by the apartheid security police just after he had led the al-Jaami'a Masjid Milad al-Nabi celebrations on 12 Rabi al-Auwal 1389AH (28 May 1969); and was held under Section 6(1) of the Terrorism Act of 1967 until his death on Saturday, 27 December 2006.

In November 1998 Nelson Mandela was a guest speaker at Crawford's College of Cape Town, formerly Hewat Teachers' Training College, a landmark on the apartheid struggle map. He spoke to the residents of Athlone, custodians of the famous Klipfontein Road, that had survived many of the suburb's apartheid altercations.

References

Communities of City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, Western Cape Seat: Cape Town Cape Flats Athlone Crawford Gugulethu Hanover Park Heideveld Joe Slovo Kenwyn Lansdowne Manenberg Nyanga Ottery Philippi Rondebosch East Strandfontein Helderberg Faure Gordon's Bay Macassar Sir Lowry's Pass Village Somerset West Strand Mitchells Plain Khayelitsha Blue Downs Crossroads Eerste River Khayelitsha Kuils River Mfuleni Mitchell's Plain QQ Section Northern Brackenfell Durbanville Fisantekraal Kensington Kraaifontein Panorama Philadelphia Wallacedene South Peninsula Bergvliet Bishopscourt Capri Village Claremont Clovelly Constantia Da Gama Park Diep River Fish Hoek Glencairn Grassy Park Harfield Village Heathfield Hout Bay Imizamo Yethu Kalk Bay Kenilworth Kommetjie Llandudno Lotus River Masiphumelele Meadowridge Mowbray Muizenberg Newlands Noordhoek Ocean View Plumstead Retreat Rondebosch Rosebank Scarborough Simon's Town St James Southern Suburbs Steenberg Tokai Wynberg Table Bay Bakoven Bantry Bay Bo-Kaap Camps Bay Cape Town Clifton De Waterkant Devil's Peak Estate District Six Epping Foreshore Fresnaye Gardens Goodwood Green Point Higgovale Langa Maitland Mouille Point Ndabeni Nomzamo Observatory Oranjezicht Pinelands Robben Island Salt River Schotsche Kloof Sea Point Tamboerskloof Thornton Three Anchor Bay University Estate Vredehoek Walmer Estate Woodstock Zonnebloem Tygerberg Belhar Bellville Bishop Lavis Blikkiesdorp Bonteheuwel Bothasig Delft Edgemead Elsie's River Monte Vista Norwood Parow Tygerberg Blaauwberg Atlantis Bloubergstrand Century City Dunoon Joe Slovo Park Mamre Melkbosstrand Milnerton Parklands Table View