Atteridgeville

Atteridgeville, part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, is a township located on the west of Pretoria, South Africa. It is bordered to the west by Saulsville, to the east by Proclamation Hill; to the south by Laudium and to the north by Lotus Gardens.It was established in 1939 for black people by the apartheid government but development was frozen between 1968 and 1978 in accordance with the government's policy that housing provided for black people be limited to the homelands. In 1984, Atteridgeville was granted municipal status.

Languages

Atteridgeville is a diverse township whose residents speak many languages. The most commonly spoken language is Sesotho, which is closely related to Setswana and Sepedi. A mixture of languages such as Afrikaans, Sesotho, English and isiZulu are sometimes fused together to form what is now a unique language-style of the township with a slight inclination to a slang known as tsotsitaal.

Some spoken languages in the community are:

*Xitsonga
*Sesotho
*isiZulu
*isiNdebele
*Tshivenda

Locations

Atteridgeville is commonly known as "Phelindaba" or "Pheli" which is an isiZulu expression for "End of Story". Atteridgeville is so nick-named because of its proximity to the now defunct nuclear power sites of "Phelindaba" and "Valindaba" (Close the Story). Some areas of the township are divided in terms of ethnic groupings, a system of housing engineered and instituted by the apartheid gorvenment. Some of these areas were nicknamed by local residents.

Nicknames:

*Tlhala mpya :- Newly built houses callously nicknamed "divorce the dog" in Northern Sotho.
*Ou Stad:- Sesotho speaking residents are concentrated in this area.
*Ten Morgan :- Same demographics as Ou Stad.
*Black Rock:- A blurred concetration of Sepedi and Xitsonga speaking residents.
*Matebeleng (derog.):- isiNdebele and isiZulu speaking residents are based here.
*Extension 3,4,5,6:- Newly developed areas defying past ethnic segregation.
*Selbourne Side:- Xitsonga and Tshivenda Speaking people
*"'Ghost Town:- Areas near the old graveyard of Atteridgeville

Atteridgeville has since evolved into an integrated multi-ethnic society.

Places of interest

*Ga-Mothakga Resort
*Atteridgiville park :- Popular jazz artists gather here each year and perform to a crowded audience
*Saulsville Arena:- Hosts music concerts, religious meetings and other major local activities
*Atteridgeville Super Stadium:- Where Premier Soccer League PSL matches and other cups are held under SAFA.:- A temporary home to SuperSports United FC affectionately known as "matsatsantsa".

erial Killers

Atteridgeville has the dubious distinction of spawning more than half a dozen serial killers.

Known serial killers from Atteridgeville

*Atteridgeville Mutilator, killed boys during a five-month period in 1956, still unidentified.
*Elias Xitavhudzi (Panga man) killed and mutilated 16 women before being caught and executed in the 1960s. The fact that he was black and the women were white doubled the impact.
*Ironman, killed and robbed victims with an iron bar during the 1970s, still unidentified.
*Moses Sithole, killed 38 women in 1995. Serving 2,410 years.
*Axeman
*Beastman
*Kgabi
*Mukuku-Motho (The Chicken man) - Harassed kids
*Rrajasi (The Coat man) - Attacked residents in the streets at night. As a result, the streets were quiet and empty after sunset.

ources

* The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, Michael Newton, p207, 246 ISBN 0-8160-3979-8
* The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes, Michael Newton, p20, 135 ISBN 0-8160-4981-5