Mahwelereng

Mahwelereng
Country	South Africa
Province	Limpopo
District municipality
Local municipality
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)

Mahwelereng is a township in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It is about 2 km from Mokopane, formerly known as Potgietersrus. It was one of the creations of the South African Apartheid policies in the former homeland of Lebowa. Most of the original residents of Mahwelereng were from an area which old residents call "Ol' Location". Ol' Location was too close to town and the residents had to be moved further away from town. There are still remnants of Ol' Location such as the "Bar" and the Lutheran Church Mission on the Sekgakgapeng site. The township is bordered by Sekgakgapeng, Ga-Michele, Moshate and Madiba. Other neighbouring rural settlements of significance include Tshamahansi, Sandsloot, Ga-Magongoa.

Background

The township grew rapidly as a result of urbanisation, as it afforded job opportunities in an area largely surrounded by rural settlements. The lack of affordable housing stock has also led to an increase in informal housing. The name Mahwelereng is derived from the name of a tree referred to in the Northern Sotho language as Mohwelere.

It was a well-planned township with a sound infrastructure. The water drainage system was comparable to that of most towns, and street lights were on every street. However, the town lacked tarred roads and a reliable electricity supply. Roads were maintained with gravel mined locally next to the current Mahwelereng Stadium, known as "Lekgethe".

The original housing units comprised two-, four- and five-room houses and a few seven-room houses. These sections gave rise to the names for these particular areas. The "Di-Five" area has larger houses reserved for high ranking government employees. Most of these five-room houses had 2 bedrooms, a lounge/dining room, a kitchen, and a toilet. Over time, however, some of the original houses were demolished by the owners to make room for larger homes; this was most often done by government employees who received housing subsidies. The "Di-Four" area has predominantly four-room houses, which included two bedrooms, a lounge/dining room, a kitchen and a toilet on the outside; some were flush toilets and some were not. The "Di-Two" area has a mix of four-room houses and two-room houses. The two-room houses had one bedroom and one kitchen-cum-lounge-cum-bedroom, with a non-flush toilet on the outside. Di-Two had a notorious section called Phadima Section.

The locals mainly speak Northern Sotho but a significant proportion also speak Xitsonga and a Ndebele dialect, SeNdebele, pronounced "Senrebele".

Landmarks

There are a number of notable landmarks in Mahwelereng.

Hotel Mahwelereng was an entertainment and meeting place for the higher echelons of society. Neighbouring the hotel was a popular bottle store that attracted patronage from surrounding areas, and a bar selling traditionally brewed liquor patronised by older and poorer members of society. The hotel has since been closed down as the owner was in tax arrears. However, the building remains standing.

The Central Business District, also called Dišopong by locals, was the main shopping district for the area situated next to Hotel Mahwelereng. It housed a dairy store, butchery, a fruit and vegetable market, supermarkets, bookshop, doctors' offices, post office, chemist, community hall and some government offices. The Central Business District provided an alternative to the main town of Potgietersrus. The Central Business District has since been weakened by the geographic expansion of the community and the proliferation of informal home-run shops referred to by locals as Spaza shops.

Mokopane Hospital, originally named Refilwe Hospital, is one of three hospitals in Mokopane and the surrounding area; the other two are Voortrekker and George Masebe hospitals. The hospital is supported by a network of small community clinics.

Mahwelereng Stadium, which was built mainly to accommodate soccer activities, has been used as a multi-purpose venue and it was at the heart of political uprising in the 1980s.

Sefakaola Mountain forms part of the Waterberg mountain range.

Education

During the Bantustan times, Mahwelereng was one of the centres of education within Lebowa. The Mokopane Teachers Training College, renamed Mokopane College of Education, is located here. Most of the teachers in the province of Limpopo graduated from this college. It was built in an area called Di-Five by the locals, but in 1991 it moved to newly built premises next to the Mokopane Hospital. It was later converted to a Further Education and Training College [1].

Schools in Mahwelereng include the primary schools Nomalema, Ithuteng, Raphela, Nonchimudi, ND Mokonyane, Maakamaleka and Segoakgala LP, and the high schools Ebenezer, Gojela, DG Tsebe.

Like many townships in Limpopo Province, Mahwelereng has produced some of the most dynamic leaders in South Africa. Many of these leaders have not returned to revive an area that is increasingly drowning in a backlog of basic municipal services.

Sporting activities

Of all the sporting teams in Mahwelereng, the softball team Mahwelereng Spikes is the biggest success story. The team was established by local youngsters, and over the years this softball team has provided many young people with a place to belong, and an opportunity to develop confidence and leadership skills.

Vultures Cricket Club dominates the district to as far as Nylstroom and had potential Protea players such as Samuel Manganya, who was a skilled left-hander and showed no mercy to bowlers. Even with players such as Manganya, the team could not sustain the club due to the lack of infrastructure and of necessary support from their local government.

Mahwelereng is the home of the now defunct Mahwelereng Real Rovers, which was formed in 1975 and later promoted to the Premier Soccer League (PSL). The team disbanded due to mismanagement of funds after its founder, DJ Ngobeni, was assassinated during minibus taxi-related violence, and his brother was involved in a car crash and later died. The team boasted players like Andries Sebola, who later joined the Orlando Pirates, Alex Bapela, who went on to the Mamelodi Sundowns, and Jackie Ledwaba, a one-time Premier Soccer League leading goal scorer.

There are other sporting activities in the area including boxing, karate, dancing and music. The musical band Sefakaola (named after the local mountain) entertains people with live music every weekend at the traditional central business district, Dišopong.

Business

Most of Mahwelereng's business was centred in the central business district, "Dišopong". Most shop owners who were removed from the Old Location started afresh here. Fruits and vegetables were supplied by various families at a central fruit and vegetable market. Young entrepreneurs have taken over, however, and they are running Shisanyama, hair salons and so forth; as the town is 2 km away, most of these businesspeople are living from hand to mouth.

Coordinates: 24°09′S 28°59′E / 24.15°S 28.983°E / -24.15; 28.983

External links

• Research done on non-motorised transport in the area (animal-drawn vehicles in particular)
• Rural transport and women
• Mogalakwena Municipality official website (Mahwelereng is part of the municipality)