Langa to celebrate a centenary of academic excellence, sports and arts

One of the oldest townships in SA, Langa in Cape Town, Western Cape, celebrates 100 years of existence this year.

The township, which is named after the chief of Amahlubi, King Langalibalele, plan to mark the big milestone with a series of celebrations that will take place throughout the year. The township also wants to honour its own talent that has put it on the map through academic excellence, sports and arts.

It further wants to acknowledge its political stalwarts who fought during the apartheid struggle. Among its notable talent is Thabo Mngomeni, the former Orlando Pirates player, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma, famous musician Ringo Madlingozi, jazz singer Sylvia Mdunyelwa, actor Thoko Ntshinga, the late pop diva, Brenda Fassie, and jazz musician Victor Ntoni, among others.

Speaking to one of Langa tour guides and a product of the township, Alfred Magwaca, he said as they celebrate 100 years they want to reinstall one of values that kept the community of Langa together, the sense of ubuntu (humanity). Magwaca said over the years a bad culture of crime manifested because people no longer had values and principles.

“ We want young people to have idols to look up to. As we celebrate this milestone, we plan to involve everyone in Langa from young to old people, men and women. We want to celebrate all our heroes in education, politics, arts, music, sports and health. The programme starts now in January and continues until December. We want to also have programmes dedicated to black history month, youth month and heritage month.”

“Right now we don’t have a Langa development forum and we plan to introduce that as we move forward. We started by acknowledging our icons and we started with Brenda Fassie. We introduce an icon every week on Tuesday on our social media. We plan to do that every week until end of the year.”

According to Magwaca, Langa Township was named after a rebellious king of Amahlubi, Langalibalele, which means scorching sun, in 1923 by residents of KwaNdabeni. Langalibalele was originally from Natal which is now known as KwaZulu-Natal. He was arrested and banished to Robben Island and released in 1875. Director of Free Market Foundation and chairman of Langa Heritage Temba Nolutshungu argues that Langa Township played a big role in the fight for freedom just like other famous townships.

“I was young when the Poqo uprising started in the 1960s led by the led Robert Sobukwe. As youngsters, we became interested in politics at a young age. I was part of Black Mamba Youth Movement and we were articulating the Black Consciousness message of being black and proud. That instilled a sense of power and daring to confront the apartheid government. Black Mamba was a broader part of the Black Consciousness Movement with Steve Biko and Barney Pityana being our contemporaries. Most of us were detained and tortured and others died in detention.”

“It was Black Conscious that inspired the spontaneous student uprising of 1976. You had people like Tsietsi Mashinini and Geofrey Mamputa from Cape Town. Steve Biko had said: 'Black man you are on your own' and that statement alone instilled a sense of confidence among us while Langa was under the radar of police and army. Music bands started for people to entertain themselves.”

Jazz diva Sylvia Mdunyelwa is proud to have grown up in Langa, a place she calls a mecca of Jazz because of the great talent it has produced over the years. Echoing Nolutshungu’s centiments, Mdunyelwa concurs that when people were frustrated they turned to music for entertainment. Mdunyelwa, who comes from a musical family, started her singing career in the 1970s when she joined Victor Ntoni’s sextet. She became a singer after being inspired by her brother and sister as well as her uncle Aspro Sipoyo, one of the greatest jazz musicians to come out of Langa. Sipoyo founded a jazz band called The Harmony Jiks.

“When we were younger, there was a lot of music in Langa. This township has produced great talent in both sports and music. When it comes to music, we have produced vocalists and instrumentalists. I feel great that we will be celebrating100 years. I am happier that I am still singing and I was honoured in September by Artscape in Cape Town for my role as a musician. Looking at where we are now, I am happy at how sports, arts and culture progressed in this area.”