Page 113 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

STEP UP
Kayamandi is an old township which sits perched on a hill overlooking the prime real estate of Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands District of the Western Cape.1 Stellenbosch Town is 50km to the east of Cape Town and is – after Cape Town – the second oldest town in South Africa.2 The town is home to Stellenbosch University which was in the apartheid years the intellectual home of the Broederbond, the powerful group of Afrikaner elite who controlled South Africa prior to democracy in 1994.
The origins of Kayamandi are linked to the racist separate development polices of the apartheid government and the white farm owners in the Winelands district. The township started in 1918 when an isolated population of farm workers, who owners did not want to live on their land, moved to the first Black area in Stellenbosch. This was followed by the development of the Du Toitville housing scheme in the 1920s. From 1941 to 1953 Kayamandi was established and expanded. The residents were predominantly families and single male workers brought to Kayamandi specifically to work on the farms or factories of Stellenbosch. It was also during this period that the first superintendent, H.D.R. Blok, ran Kayamandi. In 1966, the nine largest employers in the Stellenbosch district including Stellenbosch University, the town administration, several vineyards and a fruit packing company united to erect 38 hostels in the township. The name Kayamandi is derived from isiXhosa language, from khaya meaning “home” and mnandi meaning “nice”.3 Many of the 24 246 residents of Kayamandi today live in shacks made of corrugated iron and wood scraps. The predominant language spoken is isiXhosa.4 The stark contrast between the wealth of Stellenbosch with its pavement cafes and quaint boutique stores versus the extreme poverty of the informal settlements of Kayamandi is a microcosm of South Africa’s inequality.
Step Up is an emerging LDA based in Kayamandi. It has a strong youth development focus and has piloted the YouthBank. The LDA also attends to clients needing assistance with cases of unfair labour practice and unfair dismissals by local employers.
1. Miller, J. (2019). Unequal Scenes - Stellenbosch / Kayamandi. Retrieved October 15, 2019, from Unequal Scenes website: https://unequalscenes.com/stellenbosch-kayamandi
2. Stellenbosch Local Municipality - Overview. (2019). Retrieved October 15, 2019, from Municipalities of South Africa website: https://municipalities.co.za/overview/1210/stellenbosch-local-municipality
3. Rock, David (2011). The Location Shall Be Called Kayamandi: A History of Kayamandi (MA). Stellenbosch University
4. Frith, A. (2019). Census 2011: Main Place: Khayamandi. Retrieved October 15, 2019, from https://census2011.adrianfrith.
com/place/167012
FAST faCts
NaMe: Step Up
LeD By: ELBRE JACOBS
MaiN CHaLLeNGes faCeD By tHe CoMMUNity: unemployment, gangsterism, alcohol and drug abuse, teenage pregnancy
MaiN aCtiVities: Youth bank; Advice Office
aDDress: 28 George Blake Street, Kayamandi, Stellenbosch
CoNtaCt: Phone: 021 889 3001, Cell: 078 075 6260
Email: stepupassociation53@gmail.com
YOUTH
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