Langa, the oldest township in the Western Cape, is celebrating 100 years in existence this year.
The centenary celebrations started on Tuesday with the ‘Tuesday Special’ honouring women and men who came out of the township and helped put it on the world map.
While online history articles suggest that the township was officially established in 1927, one of the organising committee members, Alfred Magwaca, said the initial move into the area was in April 1923 and it was officially opened in 1927, which meant it was now 100 years old, reports the Cape Argus.
This distorted history, Magcwaca said, had led to most people believing that the township was now 96 years old.
He said the history of the area would be shared through exhibitions that are part of the celebrations which will continue throughout the year.
The first icon to be honoured on Tuesday was diva Brenda Fassie, who died in May 2004.
Fassie was born on November 3, 1964 in Langa. She released a klomp albums which scored her South African Music Awards and reached platinum status.
The township was also home to music and sports icons such as Dr Latozi Madosini, Ringo Madlingozi, cricketer Temba Bavuma and Hamilton Nake, a self-taught surgeon who worked alongside Dr Christiaan Barnard when he performed the first human heart transplant in 1967.
Magwaca said ‘Special Tuesday’ would lead up to a range of activities and programmes from April until December. Past and present icons and trailblazers will be honoured at these events.
One of the organisers, Siseko Mngxali, said Langa was the most visited township after Soweto.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za