More than 100 residents gathered at Dagbreek Hall, the oldest community centre in Mitchells Plain, to celebrate the area turning 50 and share memories of the township’s earliest days.

The community event on 9 April, the date on which many of the first families moved into the area in 1976, was part of the Mitchells Plain Legacy Project. It brought original residents or their children together.

Moving in

Among the speakers was Rodney Brown, who arrived as a 4-year-old in 1980.

“I remember my father giving me 80 cents because there was an advert on the radio,” Brown said before singing a jingle. “It was known as the promised land.”

Brown’s family moved from Retreat to a house that cost R7 000.

“We moved in on 24 July 1980 and we are still there,” he told the gathering.

Ebrahim Abdullah, widely known as “Boeta Hiemie”, shared his experience of moving to the area in September 1976 from Goodwood.

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“We came here from Goodwood. I was only six and moved to Westridge where I grew up.”

The sports enthusiast recalled his first day in the area.

“The day after we moved in, I took a walk down to the sports ground, and I tell you it was beautiful,” he said.

Abdullah went on to co-found the Mitchells Plain Football Association with Chris Stevens.

“People were moving into Mitchells Plain by the hundreds, so we decided to start an association.”

He reminisced about the many early residents who went on to become well-known and well-educated.

“Many of the people who used to stay here are here no more… There are only a few of us remaining. God knows why he kept me here. There is a reason; to lead the younger generations, perhaps?”

History

The development of Mitchells Plain began much earlier than its 1976 formal opening by then-Prime Minister BJ Vorster. It was intended as a flagship apartheid-era “model township”. Dr Alicia English, who along with fellow Legacy Project members has researched the area’s history extensively, said surveys for the township were conducted as early as the 1950s.

“From 1950 to 1960, the Cape Town City Council was already conducting surveys on housing,” English said. “The government gave the Cape Town City Council the green light to proceed with planning in 1971.”

The first areas to be developed were actually Woodlands and Highlands, which opened in 1974 and 1976, respectively, as then-Cape Divisional Council areas. The area grew rapidly after its opening. In 1977, Portlands was the second area to open, and by the following year, when the Mitchells Plain Housing Company was formed, 300 families were moving in per month.

By 1979, 10 000 families had moved into Mitchells Plain. The railway line opened on 30 July 1980, the same year the Town Centre, a R20 million development.

It was the first township development of its kind then, blending residential flats, public open spaces, retail spaces and transport hubs in a single whole.

Sport and education

Brown, who attended Rocklands High School, spoke about education in the area in the 1980s.

“School fees at the time were about R10 a year. It was affordable and our parents paid it up front because they didn’t want shame.”

He described how sports were almost compulsory at schools.

“One had to play a summer and winter sport. The competition among schools was very intense.”

However, Brown also recalled the impact of crime in the late 1980s.

“I saw crime for the first time when a very good friend of mine was stabbed to death in Rocklands,” he said.

All the speakers agreed that at the time of its opening, Mitchells Plain was one of the safest places to live. They also emphasised the potential of the area and its residents.

The event was one of several Legacy Project commemorations planned for this year. The project aims to encourage organisations and residents to organise similar events throughout the year to celebrate Mitchells Plain’s heritage and communal spirit.