Westdene | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 26°10′41″S27°59′10″E / 26.1780°S 27.986°E Coordinates: 26°10′41″S27°59′10″E / 26.1780°S 27.986°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Gauteng |
Municipality | City of Johannesburg |
Main Place | Johannesburg |
Established | 1910 |
Area | |
• Total | 1.91 km2 (0.74 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 4,909 |
• Density | 2,600/km2 (6,700/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 25.75% |
• Coloured | 4.87% |
• Indian/Asian | 4.34% |
• White | 65.04% |
First languages (2011) | |
• English | 37.42% |
• Afrikaans | 38.03% |
• Zulu | 5.19% |
• Tswana | 5.17% |
• Other | 14.19% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 2092 |
PO box | 2006 |
Area code | 011 and 010 |
Westdene is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Westdene lies between the historic suburb of Sophiatown and Melville with the Melville Koppies West nature reserve to the north of the suburb. Westdene derives its name from its location, literally meaning west-valley. 'West' since it is located west from the city centre and with 'dene' derived from the Old English denu, meaning valley.
Westdene was originally part of the farm Braamfontein, established in the area in 1853. The farm stretched from Westdene in the west to Houghton in the east and from Newtown in the south to Linden in the north. [2] Various parts of the farm were sub-divided and sold many times over and in 1871 Gerhardus Petrus Bezuidenhout sold his south-western portion of the farm to Frans Johannes van Dijk who in turn sold the land to Johannes Jacobus Lindeque in 1884. The portion of land became known as Lindeque's Portion and would eventually develop into the present-day suburbs of Auckland Park, Cottesloe and Westdene. Hendrik Wilhelm Struben obtained permission from Lindeque to prospect the area for gold in 1885 but no evidence of gold was discovered. [3] [4] In 1887 Lindeque sold a portion to the then Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek for 4000 pounds. The government's intention with acquiring the land was to improve the water supply to Johannesburg, but soon the government also laid out the first suburbs on the farm in 1888 and 1889. [5]
In 1902 the area to become Westdene was surveyed for the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company after the surrounding suburbs of Auckland Park, Melville and Richmond had been proclaimed and established. In 1905 the area was laid out, but Westdene would only formally be established in 1910. [6] In the early 20th century a brickfield was started in the area where the current Westdene dam is located. Albert Edward Wells formed the Wells Brickfield in the area around 1911. The brickfield lay south-west of the Westdene-spruit (or stream). [7]
Early maps of the suburb show two parks, Tighy park and another unknown park that would later become the Westdene recreation centre.
In 1932 the South African Government decided to abandon the gold standard and the country subsequently experienced a sustained period of economic growth. [8] To meet the growing demand the Wells Brickfield expanded operations which led to the clay quarrying activities in the area creating a number small dams. [9] A map of the area from 1934 depict the dams created as well as the first properties to be built in the area. South of Westdene the original Auckland Park horse racing track can be seen which would later become the Rand Afrikaans University and later the University of Johannesburg.
The brickfield in the area closed in 1943 and the abandoned land was possibly transferred to the Johannesburg city council. The city council would later develop the Westdene Park here. An aerial photograph that was taken in 1952 shows how the number of smaller dams in the area grew to create two distinct dams. The south-west dam was known as "Blue-dam" and the north-east dam "Westdene-dam". [10] These two distinct dams were separated by a small footpath visible on the aerial photograph, but would later merge into one dam and be known simply as Westdene Dam. Further north-east a smaller separate dam would remain, known as "Padda-dam" (or Frog Dam).
Westdene was and remained a white working-class suburb for most of the 20th century.
After the establishment of Soweto in 1923 white working-class neighbours in Westdene and Newlands began asking for the removal of black people in neighbouring Sophiatown. The perception arose that the suburb was too close to white suburbia. Under the Immorality Amendment Act, No 21 of 1950, people of mixed races could not reside together, which made it possible for the government to segregate the different races. In 1955 the government removed black, Indian and coloured families from Sophiatown by force. The area was rezoned for whites only and renamed 'Triomf' (Afrikaans for Triumph) by the government.
According to some accounts "there were mixed feelings in Westdene about their Sophiatown neighbours, with most residents wanting to keep their white exclusivity". [11]
On 27 March 1985, a school bus transporting children from Vorentoe High School, left the road as it was crossing the bridge of the Westdene Dam. 30 Children swam to safety or were rescued from the rooftop of the bus. 42 Children were unable to escape the bus and died. [12]
Despite the occurrence of so-called "white flight" in the suburbs near the Johannesburg Central Business District after the end of apartheid, and subsequent urban decay, Westdene has remained a suburb with a white majority (as evident from census data).
In 2017 Tighy Park was used as a construction site for Kingsway Civil, a construction company carrying out construction and upgrades around the area. The company agreed to beautify and upgrade the park once construction in the area was complete. [13] Also in 2017 the Westdene Dam (and surrounding park) was closed for several months due to construction on the City of Johannesburg’s Corridors of Freedom project. [14] Both parks have been upgraded since.
With the close proximity to The University of Johannesburg as well as the University of the Witwatersrand and the growing number of students at these institutions, the suburb has recently experienced an influx of students looking for residence. The general shortage of student accommodation in Johannesburg has led to multiple illegal communes reported in the suburb. [15]
Two schools are located in Westdene - West Rand SDA Primary School [16] and Orban School. [17] Both are private primary schools with the latter a double medium (Afrikaans and English) school and the former an English medium school.
While the University of Johannesburg is located in Auckland Park, the university has a number of sport fields and sporting facilities located in Westdene. [18] These include:
July 2015 saw the start of The Westdene Graffiti Project. A local community initiative by Westdene residents donating their property walls to graffiti artists for street art and murals. The project is aimed at beautifying the suburb and have been quite successful with over 40 murals (to date) scattered around the suburb. Local and foreign tourists now go on walking tours of the suburbs' many murals and street art. [19]
These murals include work by local and international artists. Some of the artists featured: [20]
Johannesburg is a large city in Gauteng Province of South Africa. It was established as a small village controlled by a Health Committee in 1886 with the discovery of an outcrop of a gold reef on the farm Langlaagte. The population of the city grew rapidly, becoming a municipality in 1898. In 1928 it became a city making Johannesburg the largest city in South Africa. In 2002 it joined ten other municipalities to form the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Today, it is a centre for learning and entertainment for all of South Africa. It is also the capital city of Gauteng.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is a public university located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the Technikon Witwatersrand (TWR) and the Soweto and East Rand campuses of Vista University. Prior to the merger, the Daveyton and Soweto campuses of the former Vista University had been incorporated into RAU. As a result of the merger of Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), it is common for alumni to refer to the university as RAU. The vice-chancellor and principal of UJ is Professor Tshilidzi Marwala who took office on 1 January 2018. Between 2005 and 2017, UJ's vice-chancellor and principal was Prof Ihron Lester Rensburg.
Sophiatown, also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid, It produced some of South Africa's most famous writers, musicians, politicians and artists. Rebuilt under the name of Triomf, and in 2006 officially returned to its original name. Sophiatown was one of the oldest black areas in Johannesburg and its destruction represents some of the excesses of South Africa under apartheid.
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The suburbs of Johannesburg are officially demarcated areas within the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. As in other Commonwealth countries, the term suburb refers to a "neighbourhood", although in South Africa as most "suburbs" have legally recognised borders and often separate postal codes. The municipal functions for the area, such as municipal policing and social services, are still managed by the city government.
Melville is a bohemian suburb of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. It is the location of many restaurants and taverns, which are mostly frequented by students from the nearby University of Johannesburg, located in Auckland Park, and the University of the Witwatersrand, located in Braamfontein. It is one of the city's most popular tourist destinations. The suburb is to the west of the Johannesburg CBD. It is located in Region B of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
Auckland Park is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It lies on a gentle slope, and is in close proximity to the suburbs of Melville, Brixton, Westdene and Richmond. Auckland Park is one of the few suburbs close to the Johannesburg city centre that has remained largely unaffected by the recent migration of Johannesburg residents to the city's northern suburbs. Auckland Park is home to a mix of nationalities and cultures, and the suburb is well known as the location of the South African Broadcasting Corporation headquarters.
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Emmarentia Dam is a dam in Emmarentia, Johannesburg, South Africa. There are several dams that make up Emmarentia Dam, despite its allusion to the singular, with two small dams found upstream in the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens.
Kingsway Campus Auckland Park, also known as APK, is the largest and most populated of the four campuses of the University of Johannesburg. It is also the seat of the administration and governance body of the university. The campus was formerly the only educational campus of the Rand Afrikaans University. The campus gets its name from a major Johannesburg road, Kingsway Avenue, that runs along the north-east side of the campus. The roads that form the boundary of the campus are (clock-wise) University Road, Ditton Avenue, Ripley Road, Hampton Avenue, Studente Avenue, Akademie Road and Perth Road. Although the official name of the campus implies that it is in Auckland Park, it actually falls just out of that suburb by one street. It is technically in the suburb of Rossmore with the first-year parking lot bordering the suburb of Melville, Gauteng.
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The Johannesburg East Reformed Church was a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in the Johannesburg suburb of Doornfontein, just east of downtown. It is also known as the Irene Church after the sobriquet of its second and third churches on 1 Beit Street. Five weeks before its centennial, on June 1, 1997, Johannesburg East was absorbed by the Johannesburg Reformed Church (NGK), from whence it had seceded on July 8, 1897.