Crossroads is a high-density 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 Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, 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...

.

It is situated near Cape Town International Airport

Cape Town International Airport

Cape Town International Airport is the primary airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second busiest airport in South Africa and third busiest in Africa. Located approximately from the city centre, the airport was opened in 1954 to replace Cape Town's previous airport in the suburb of...

 and borders Nyanga

Nyanga, Cape Town

Nyanga is a township in Cape Town, South Africa. Its name in Xhosa means ‘moon’ and it is one of the oldest black townships in Cape Town. It was established as a result of the migrant labor system. In the early fifties black migrants were forced to settle in Nyanga as Langa became too small. ...

, Philippi

Philippi, Cape Town

Philippi is one of the larger townships in Cape Town, South Africa, although the exact size is unknown. Some estimates put the population at about 150,000 people.The township is relatively new. Along with Khayelitsha and Delft, it was founded in the 1980s.....

, Heideveld, Gugulethu and Mitchells Plain.

Crossroads is one of Cape Town's largest townships. People began to settle there because Langa

Langa, Cape Town

Langa is a suburb found in Cape Town, South Africa. It was established in 1927 interms of the 1923 Urban Areas Act. Similar to Nyanga, Langa is one of the many areas in South Africa that were designated for Black Africans before the apartheid era. It is the oldest of such suburbs in Cape Town and...

 (Cape Town's first township) was becoming too crowded . People began to live there from 1975. Crossroads grew quickly and by 1980 it had over 110 000 residents. By 1983 it had becomee the Western Cape's

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

 largest township. The huge township developed sub-sections (suburbs/areas) such as New Crossroads, Old Crossroads, Upper Crossroads and KTC.

Crossroads was the scene of numerous protests during the apartheid era. During the Soweto uprising, students protested about being taught in the Afrikaans language

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...

, and riots occurred when Crossroads began forcibly removing people to Khayelitsha

Khayelitsha

Khayelitsha is a partially informal township in Western Cape, South Africa, located on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town. The name is Xhosa for New Home...

 (currently Cape Town's 2nd largest township after Mitchells Plain). During this period, many shacks were burnt down and houses destroyed. Many people were also left homeless.

Today Crossroads has high rates of gangsterism and poverty .