Atteridgeville

Atteridgeville was established by the government in 1939[3] as a settlement for black people, after much lobbying by Mrs Myrtle Patricia Atteridge, the chairwoman of the Committee for Non-European Affairs on the City Council at that time.[4] Atteridgeville was established nine years prior to the election of the apartheid government in 1948. The first occupants were moved to Atteridgeville from Marabastad on 26 May 1940.[3] It was officially opened on 5 August 1940.[5] Mrs Atteridge, who was also a philanthropist, Black Sash activist and the deputy mayoress of Pretoria, endeavoured to improve living conditions of black people who were previously living in squalid conditions in Marabastad.[6] Atteridgeville provided amenities such as brick housing, lighting and toilets, and later, so as to further enhance living standards, the township was connected by train to Pretoria CBD. Schools, creches and clinics were established thereafter. The naming of the township was in fact suggested by the black people themselves who also requested Mrs Atteridge to represent them in parliament which she refused as she was disinclined to participate in an exclusionary regime. Between 1940 and 1949, more than 1500 houses were built for people relocated from Marabastad, Bantule and other areas around Pretoria.[7]

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.

1984 saw school boycotts and general unrest when demands by the Congress of South African Students to implement democratic students' representative councils in schools were rejected by the Department of Education and Training. The first victim of the school boycotts was Emma Sathekge from David Helen Peta High School.[8] The schools were suspended for the better part of 1984 and exams were not written by all High school learners.[9][10]

On 15 April 1988, a bomb explosion caused damage to the Atteridgeville Municipal buildings; no-one was injured during the attack. The attack was planned by Umkhonto we Sizwe and executed by one of their members, Johannes Maleka.[11] In November 2000, Johannes Maleka was granted amnesty for his part in the attack by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.[11][12]