Mdantsane
Encyclopedia
Mdantsane is a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n township situated between East London and King William's Town
King William's Town
King William's Town is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The town is about 40 minutes' motorway drive WNW of the Indian Ocean port of East London...

 in the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...

 province. It is reputed to be the second largest township
Township (South Africa)
In South Africa, the term township and location usually refers to the urban living areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites . Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities...

 in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 after Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...

 and houses the second biggest shopping mall in the Eastern Cape Province (called Mdantsane City and open since April 2008). The original inhabitants are people who were forcibly removed from what was known as East Bank in East London. The East Bank was a multiracial residential area. Mdantsane was located within an apartheid structure, then known by the name of Ciskei
Ciskei
Ciskei was a Bantustan in the south east of South Africa. It covered an area of 2,970 square miles , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian Ocean....

.

It is divided into eighteen zones which are still expanding, with the newest unit known as Unit P. The zones are named numerically in the chronological order of their establishment. The central market, in N.U.2 (Zone 2) district is called "The Hi-way". It is named after Qumza Highway, which is the main road that runs through Mdantsane from East London city centre to an industrial area at the end, Fort Jackson. Here many informal traders sell their wares on the streets and it is also the location of the main taxi rank. There is also formal trading which is housed in the recently built shopping malls. Mdantsane is also known as a home of boxing, because this is where boxing world champions like Happyboy Mgxaji, Welcome Ncita and Vuyani Bungu hail from. A pulsating culture in music, arts and poetry continues to thrive in this close-knit township life. Many political stalwarts and veterans also hail from this township, including Ntombazana Gertrude Botha, Mlamli Ondala and Bangumzi Sifingo.

There is a vibrant social life with many church denominations and other social activities. However, according to Statistics South Africa, the area still has a very high unemployment rate.
The township is part of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape.

After a quarrel with his girlfriend, Bulelani Vukwana
Bulelani Vukwana
Bulelani Vukwana was a South African spree killer who, after a quarrel with his girlfriend, shot to death 11 people and injured a further 6 in Mdantsane township, near East London, on February 9, 2002, before committing suicide.-Murder Trail:In the evening of February 9, 2002 29-year old Bulelani...

 shot to death 11 people and injured a further 6 in a spree killing
Spree killer
A spree killer is someone who embarks on a murderous assault on two or more victims in a short time in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations with almost no time break between murders."-Definition:According to the...

 on February 9, 2002. He later committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

.

Cecilia Makiwane Hospital is a 1,724-bed multidisciplinary hospital in Mdantsane. It was named after the first black nurse registered during the apartheid period. Along with Frere Hospital and the East London Mental Health Unit, it forms part of what is called the East London Hospital Complex, which serves a population of almost three million people.

Demographics

The language spoken in Mdantsane is isiXhosa, however English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 or Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

is sometimes spoken as a second language by the inhabitants. The majority of Mdantsane's residents subsist below the living wage, according to the government's economic classifications. However, there is a growing middle class in Mdantsane. With the advent of the Mdantsane Urban Renewal initiative this category of residents is set to grow rapidly.
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