User:Tibakhuli/sandbox

= The formation of Letlhabile Township = Mothutlung, Letlhabile and Oukasie are the black townships in Brits, with Oukasie founded in 1931 making it one of the oldest townships in South Africa. Brits was founded in 1924 on the farm of Roode Kopjes bought by Johan Nicolaas Brits. The town Brits was named after him after the railway station was built on his part of property in 09 July 1906 then named after him, residents on his farm started placing small business next to the railway station.

Health improvement and Removal Plan that discovered Letlhabile, disestablishes of Oukasie
In 1931, the government built a few tin shacks for the people who worked at Brits in a rocky area/hill. Since that time the government has not built other houses and nor provided service delivery (i.e. Toilets, Electricity, Tarred road and Street light), they use bucket latrines system with a limited drainage system. As business grows and more and more people from other townships come to work in Brits, those who did not have money to build houses, built shacks on other people’s plots. .

As the town grows, white’s suburb was built in the direction of Oukasie the removal plan began. “The removal was first mooted in the 1950s and then put on ice until the mid-1960s In the early seventies the removal plan was partially realized when approximately 200 families were moved to Mothutlung, about 20 kilometers north east of Brits, in Bophuthatswana”. Due to government refusal to build more houses and to allow people to occupy the land outside the very small area declared for African occupation, for that reasons more people crowded in a single plot from an average of 3 families to 20 families per plot. As claimed by Oukasie residents, Government used this as a plan to fulfill white’s residents desire to move black people far away from their lovely suburb.

“The plan to remove the whole of Oukasie was again dropped, and then revived with a great deal of vigor by the local city council in the mid-seven ties. In 1976 the campaign by the local council to remove Oukasie took a significant step forward when the Department of Bantu Administration and Development bought 400 hectares of the farm Nuutgcdacht (now called Letlhabile) for the specific purpose of providing an alternative site for Oukasie residents”. They cited that the plan was based on the assessment done and realized poor hygienic conditions and astronomic costs involved in upgrading the town as the reason they have to move them.

A series of surveys were conducted at the request of the community of Oukasie to determine certain public health information in the township, a peri-urban black community. The survey concluded that the government was lying. But government continued with their plan, and then the protest erupted with petrol bombings, grenade attack and murderous bomb attack on the leaders of the anti-removal struggle.

Development of Letlhabile and allocation of Residents
This township was formed after 400 hectors of the farm Nuutgdacht were bought by the Department of Bantu Administration and Development as resolution to issues surrounding Oukasie and Brits town. “In that farm there was graveyard built before anyone moved there. In fact, 500 graves were dug before there was one person living in Letlhabile”.

The move was very swiftly, Government build 175 four-room houses and then sold them R 4000.00 to majority who were ex-plot-owners in Oukasie and compensated as such for their land they left. Those who couldn’t by houses were given an empty plot with:- - Zozo (i.e. a tin structure house measuring at 9 square meters), - Tent, - Flushing toilet and a tap.

Good Service Delivery by apartheid government
The apartheid government administration allocated residents with:- o Electricity and good sanitation o Tarred roads with pavement on all the streets o Electric lights (i.e. Apollo)

Within a short period of time from 1985 – 1994: Letlhabile improved from being a farm/living graveyard to being a village, and then to township, and almost a suburb in today’s time due to a good service delivery and the high-level rate of employment. However things had changed as there lots of protest over service deliberate and high rate of unemployment.

Home of Heavyweight
1. Dj Oskido (Musician) 2. uManjie (Musician) 3. Sello Makhale (Soccer Player, played for Orlando Pirate, Pietermaritzburg and Black Leopart)