Athlone, Cape Town

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Athlone
Athlone, just after the demolition of the Cooling Towers
Athlone, just after the demolition of the Cooling Towers
Street map of Athlone
Street map of Athlone
Athlone is located in Western Cape
Athlone
Athlone
 Athlone shown within Western Cape
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Location within Cape Town
Athlone is located in Cape Town
Athlone
Athlone
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Country South Africa
Province Western Cape
Municipality City of Cape Town
Established {{#property:P571}}
Government
 • Councillor Mustapha Murudker (Ward 48) ANC
Patrick Hill (Ward 60) (DA)
Area[1]
 • Total 1.50 km2 (0.58 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 8,893
 • Density 5,900/km2 (15,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
 • Black African 8.5%
 • Coloured 82.8%
 • Indian/Asian 4.1%
 • White 1.1%
 • Other 3.5%
First languages (2011)[1]
 • English 81.6%
 • Afrikaans 11.7%
 • Other 6.7%
Postal code (street) 7764
PO box 7760

Athlone is a suburb of Cape Town located to the east of the city centre on the Cape Flats, south of the N2 highway. It is named after Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone who was Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 1924 to 1930. Two of the suburb's main landmarks are Athlone Stadium and the decommissioned coal burning Athlone Power Station. Athlone is mainly residential and is served by a railway station of the same name. It however includes industrial (Athlone Industria 1 & 2) and commercial zones (Athlone CBD and Gatesville). There are many "sub-areas" within Athlone, including Manenberg, Gatesville, Belgravia Estate, Bridgetown, Crawford and Hazendal.

Athlone is also the home of the Trojan Horse Memorial, a reminder of the Trojan Horse Incident which took place in 1985, when three anti-apartheid protesters were killed and fifteen others wounded in a police ambush.[2] The incident took place near the Alexander Sinton Secondary School where students had demanded to attend school the month before.[3]

Athlone is also the home of the Robert Waterwitch / Colleen Williams Memorial, established in memory of two ANC activists who died in the struggle against apartheid.

There are over 100 schools in the greater Athlone area.

Demographics

As of the census[4] of 2001, there were 11,556 households and 45,056 people residing in the suburb. The racial makeup of the suburb was 3.21% Black African, 69.66% Coloured, 23.45% Indian/Asian, 3.68% White and 0% from other races.

The suburb population age varies with 28.38% under the age of 18, 28.37% from 18 to 34, 26.53% from 35 to 54, 8.04% from 55 to 64, and 8.66% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 women there were 86.53 males.

82.58% of the population speak English, 15.18% speak Afrikaans, 1.13% speak Xhosa, 0.52% speak another African language and 0.59% some other language as a first language.[4]

Organisations in Athlone

The Anti-Eviction Campaign and the Gatesville Hawkers Association have a strong presence with many members in Athlone.

Athlone Power Station

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The decommissioned Athlone Power Station is situated alongside the N2. The cooling towers, commonly referred to as the "Athlone Towers", were demolished on 22 August 2010.[5]

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Video of the Trojan Horse Incident, Youtube, Chris Emerson, CBS, retrieved 19 August 2014
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  4. 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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