Eastridge through the decades: People, protests and progress

Eastridge’s story stretches across several decades, beginning with the first residents who settled there in 1980.

By 1989, there were 2841 residents living in the area, nestled between the Mitchell’s Plain Station railway line, Spine Road, Alpine Avenue, Imperial Road and the Town Centre.

In those early years, the Town Centre, which first opened to the public in 1980, quickly became the focal point of daily life.

 The “centre”, as referred to by many residents, became the bargain mecca and center of entertainment in Mitchell’s Plain.

Families flocked to the CBD for their weekly shopping – many people even travelled there by train from elsewhere on the Cape Flats.

It was also a centre of entertainment and relaxation, featuring several nightclubs over the years and a movie theatre. On weekends, local bands, singers, and cultural groups serenaded the crowds in Freedom Square.

Mitchell’s Plain’s first club, Fantasy, owned by Rudolph Paulse, opened in the Town Centre in the 1980s.  Later, Route 66 also opened its doors in the Town Centre.

Many youngsters frequented the Town Centre to hang out with their friends.

“Town Centre was my playground as my dad was the manager of the bioscope… shops like Zenobia, the old Ok Bazaars, Poorman’s Friend, Sales House, Diskom and Skipper Bar to name but a few, were still around,” Shameema Ebrahim recently said on social media.

Community facilities

The Mitchell’s Plain Community Healthcare Centre in Eastridge opened its doors on July 1, 1986.

It was the first healthcare facility to be built in Mitchell’s Plain at the time. The healthcare centre received its first emergency unit seven years later, in 1993.

When the Mitchell’s Plain Town Centre Library opened on February 20, 1997, it was dedicated to the memory of children who died at the hands of the “station strangler”.  

The library, located opposite the Mitchell’s Plain Magistrate’s Court, was officially opened by the then Mayor of Cape Town, the late Theresa Solomon.

Public transport

The Town Centre is also home to Mitchell’s Plain’s primary public transport interchange, with established bus, including MyCiti, and taxi routes.

The interchange serves thousands of commuters who travel daily to external destinations, including Cape Town, Somerset West, Simon’s Town, Century City, Wynberg, Khayelitsha, Bellville, Delft, and Eerste River.

The interchange also services most internal routes in Mitchell’s Plain, including Strandfontein and Mandalay. 

Education

Eastridge has two primary schools – Littlewood Primary and Eastville Primary. Did you know that singing sensations Loukmaan and Emo Adams are both former pupils of Eastville Primary?

South African filmmaker and actor Christo Davids, who grew up in Eastridge, attended Littlewood Primary School before moving to Heidelberg to live with his grandfather.

Drone pilot Marshall Nelson is also a former Littlewood Primary pupil. Mr Nelson is the founder of Youth Media Movement, an organisation that empowers youth in technology and innovation.

The Eastridge community had no high school for many years, until the opening of Darul Arqam Islamic High School in 1992.

Formerly known as Mitchell’s Plain Islamic Girls High, the school started with grades 8 and 9. Over the years, Darul Arqam has become one of the top-performing high schools in Mitchells Plain. 

Activism and defiance

Eastridge also has a rich history of anti-apartheid activism and defiance. Apart from a very active ratepayers association, many school pupils were instrumental in the student uprisings of the 1980s.

Many children from Eastridge attended high schools in neighbouring areas, where they formed part of the student representative councils (SRCs). These schools included Beacon Hill High in Beacon Valley, Tafelsig High in Tafelsig, and Spine Road High in Rocklands.

On December 31 1989, at 11.20pm, while many residents were enjoying their New Year’s Eve festivities, the Mitchell’s Plain police station barracks were rocked by a limpet bomb explosion.

The bomb was planted by a group of young Umkhonto we Sizwe members from Mitchell’s Plain. No one was harmed in the incident.

The bombing came not too long after the release of many student activists from the Mitchells Plain Student Congress (MIPSCO).

At the time, the police station was a symbol of the apartheid police’s terror in the area. It was also where many student activists were detained and tortured in the 1980s.

Housing protests

On September 12, 2005,  a group of Eastridge residents staged a protest to voice their dissatisfaction with the “shoddy” housing built by the Cape Town Community Housing Company (CTCHC).

Erecting burning barricades, they also demonstrated against the eviction of residents from their homes by the CTCHC.

Almost two years later, the Eastridge Anti-Eviction Campaign marched to the City of Cape Town council offices in town on August 21, 2007.

Many residents took part in a six-month rent boycott in Eastridge.