Kliptown

Kliptown
Kliptown in November 2012
Kliptown  Kliptown shown within Gauteng
Location within Greater Johannesburg  Kliptown
Coordinates: 26°17′02″S 27°53′13″E / 26.284°S 27.887°ECoordinates: 26°17′02″S 27°53′13″E / 26.284°S 27.887°E
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Municipality	City of Johannesburg
Main Place	Soweto
Established	1891
Area[1]
• Total	0.77 km^2 (0.30 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total	7,548
• Density	9,800/km^2 (25,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
• Black African	68.2%
• Coloured	30.6%
• Indian/Asian	0.8%
• White	0.1%
• Other	0.4%
First languages (2011)[1]
• Afrikaans	32.4%
• Sotho	20.5%
• Zulu	14.2%
• Tswana	6.8%
• Other	26.0%
Postal code (street)	1811
PO box	1812

Kliptown is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng, South Africa, located about 17 km south-west of Johannesburg. Kliptown is the oldest residential district of Soweto, and was first laid out in 1891 on land which formed part of Klipspruit farm. The farm was named after the klipspruit (rocky stream) that runs nearby. From 1903 the area was home to informal settlements (squatter camps), and the area now contains a mixture of purpose-built housing and a large number of shacks and other informal homes which form the Chris Hani and Dlamini settlements.

A shop in Kliptown in 1979

In June, 1955, Kliptown was the home of an unprecedented Congress of the People, organised by the African National Congress, the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People's Congress. This Congress saw the declaration and adoption of the Freedom Charter, which set out the aims and aspirations of the opponents of apartheid.

In 2005 Kliptown had an unemployment rate of 72%.^[2] In that same year Johannesburg City Council announced plans for renewal of the Kliptown area, including a large-scale housing project.

References

• Musiker, N. and R., 1999. A Concise Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg, Francolin Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa.
• Johannesburg City Council
• Soweto Kliptown Youth (SKY) Community Center

1. "Sub Place Kliptown". Census 2011.
2. Klein, Naomi (2007). The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. New York: Picador. p. 270.