Botshabelo
Botshabelo
"Place of Refuge"
"Place of Refuge"
Embedded Files
Botshabelo: Photo by Mojalefa Makitle, January 2017.
"On a week-day morning, south of the main tarred road from Bloemfontein to Maseru, a thick pall of dust hangs in the air. Below it, a vast parade of Masenke (corrugated iron shacks) stretches, it seems, as far as the eye can see. This is Botshabelo: 'Place of Refuge' for half a million people displaced from towns and farms in 'white' South Africa. In 1979 the site was bare veld. In 1986 it was the largest rural slum in the country. The morning pall of dust rises from the rutted dirt tracks around the settlement as an apparently endless trail of yellow Jakaranda buses rumbles off to Bloemfontein, 60 km distant, to disgorge tens of thousands of daily commuters."
"On a week-day morning, south of the main tarred road from Bloemfontein to Maseru, a thick pall of dust hangs in the air. Below it, a vast parade of Masenke (corrugated iron shacks) stretches, it seems, as far as the eye can see. This is Botshabelo: 'Place of Refuge' for half a million people displaced from towns and farms in 'white' South Africa. In 1979 the site was bare veld. In 1986 it was the largest rural slum in the country. The morning pall of dust rises from the rutted dirt tracks around the settlement as an apparently endless trail of yellow Jakaranda buses rumbles off to Bloemfontein, 60 km distant, to disgorge tens of thousands of daily commuters."
~Colin Murray, 1992.
~Colin Murray, 1992.
Quick Facts
Quick Facts
The township was founded in 1979.
The township was founded in 1979.
It is located approximately 50 km east of Bloemfontein in the Free State Province of South Africa.
It is located approximately 50 km east of Bloemfontein in the Free State Province of South Africa.
Population in 2001 was 175, 232; and it grew to 181,712 by 2011.
Population in 2001 was 175, 232; and it grew to 181,712 by 2011.
Unemployment rate has been consistently higher than that of Bloemfontein.
Unemployment rate has been consistently higher than that of Bloemfontein.
From 1996 to 2013, unemployment increased from 29.9 to 36.4 % in Botshabelo.
From 1996 to 2013, unemployment increased from 29.9 to 36.4 % in Botshabelo.
Marais, L. Ntema, J. Cloete, J. Rani, K. Lenka, M. (2016). Reinforcing Housing Assets in the Wrong Location? The Case Study of Botshabelo, South Africa. Urban Forum 27: 347-362.
Murray, C. (1992). Black mountain: Land, class and power in the eastern Orange Free State, 1880s to 1980s. Smithsonian Inst Pr.
Report abuse