Eersterust
Encyclopedia
Eersterust or "First Rest", often incorrectly spelled "Eersterus", is a formal South African 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...
located within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and is located just about 15 km east of the Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
city centre. It is also referred to by locals as "Poort". Eersterust is situated west of Mamelodi.
Origins
The area was created by the government of the apartheid era, which allocated and relocated people of the ColouredColoured
In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...
race group to this area. It was laid out in 1962 on the farm Vlakfontein. The name of Eersterust is clouded in mystery. Some say it is named after the mail-coach route that went to Lydenburg
Lydenburg
Lydenburg is a town in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The town is slated to be renamed Mashishing, according to an announcement made on June 30, 2006 by the South African Minister of Arts and Culture, Pallo Jordan. Lydenburg is situated on the Sterkspruit/Dorps River tributary of the Olifants River at...
during the gold rush—this being the first stop—while others speculate that it might have been the first township for coloured people established in the area.
Overview
Eersterust is seen as the gateway to the industrial areas of Pretoria, like Silverton and Waltloo. Most of the residents work in these areas, not far from home. The township has an estimated 400,000 residents. This community has evolved to develop its own cultural history including unique traditions and a way of life, based on friendliness and hospitality. Restaurants offer a unique local flavour with a variety of choices available, from traditional tastes to the spicy and adventurous. The main language is AfrikaansAfrikaans
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...
but many others are spoken.
Eersterust is a very religious community, and there are numerous places of worship throughout the area. The first Catholic church which dates back to the early 1950s is located here. 60% of residents are Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, while 30% belong to other religions, including Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Neighborhoods
Eersterust has six independent extensions which offer nearby schooling and transport routes. Many people have also gathered to fight crime by starting neighborhood night watch groups to assist the police in protecting their homes and streets. Local residents cleverly know their respective areas of Eersterust and its popular streets, namely Hans Coverdale RoadHans Coverdale Road
Hans Coverdale Road is the longest most popular street found in Eersterust, Gauteng, South Africa. The street is unique, as it is long-lengthed, linking the entire township of Eersterust, and is a gateway to Eersterust, as well as a major route to the township...
West, Hans Coverdale Road
Hans Coverdale Road
Hans Coverdale Road is the longest most popular street found in Eersterust, Gauteng, South Africa. The street is unique, as it is long-lengthed, linking the entire township of Eersterust, and is a gateway to Eersterust, as well as a major route to the township...
East and Hans Coverdale Road
Hans Coverdale Road
Hans Coverdale Road is the longest most popular street found in Eersterust, Gauteng, South Africa. The street is unique, as it is long-lengthed, linking the entire township of Eersterust, and is a gateway to Eersterust, as well as a major route to the township...
North, these streets all begin with the name Hans Coverdale, and being long distanced allowing locals to enjoy easy navigation around the area. The naming of these respective areas are listed by its different extensions, namely ext.2, ext.3, ext.4, ext.5 and ext.6, each one of them playing a huge role in the township of Eersterust. Newspapers and the media, however, refer to the parts of the township as North, East and West.
Points of interest
Clubs and organisations- Club Bel Air
- Community hall
- YDO - Youth Development outreach organisation
- YMaD - Youth Making a Difference
Events
- Boesman Care Home
Services
- Sport & Recreation
- Restaurants
- Church/Mosque
- Shopping
- Taxi
Shops/Centers
- Eersterust Plaza (Pick 'n PayPick 'n PayPick 'n Pay is a second largest supermarket chain store in South Africa, established in 1967. It can also be found in other regions of southern Africa, such as Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The founder of the chain is Jack Goldin. Raymond Ackerman purchased three Pick 'n Pay...
; Barcelos; Jet Mart; Midas and many more) - Butterfield Bakery
- Eersterust Civic Center
- Local tuck shopTuck shopA tuck shop is a small, food-selling retailer. It is a term principally used in the UK, Grenada, South Africa, New Zealand, the Australian states of Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, and occasionally in other parts of the former British Empire. In New South Wales, the term is...
s
History
Adapted from Eersterust Online - www.eersterust.co.zaMore or less in 1905 the then-owner of a farm close to Pretoria where the township of Eersterust now resides, divided a portion of his property into plots to sell. The township was develop for Coloureds to stay there, but the plots were mainly bought by Black People (Van der Walt,1966).
The details of the initial developments are not known. According to Van der Walt (1966) the living conditions was bad during the 1930s, there was no sanitation, illnesses were common and a lot of children died then. At that time Eersterust was no more than just a squatters settlement: the house were mainly made of sink and mud and a lot more of those structure were built on the same premises. Crime sky rocketed then.
A portion of the farm (Derdepoort no.469) in Pretoria was proclaimed a Coloured area in 1958. The area was once again divided into plots after the previous owners were expropriated from the area. After the non-coloureds were relocated to another area the houses were destroyed and new ones were build. The first housing scheme consisting of 200 houses was completed during February 1962 and consisted of six economical residences. At that point in time arrangements were made to move Coloureds that were staying somewhere else in Pretoria, such as Lady Selborne, Eastwood, Claremont, Booysens and the so-called Kaapse lokasie, into Eersterust.
In 1979 there was a total of 17,000 people living in Eersterust.
Further development took place, and a total of 1207 sub-economical houses, 956 economical houses, and more or less 86 private houses were built in Eersterust.
The name Eersterust
The existence of the name is not precisely known, but according to Van der Wald (1966) there are three possibilities:1. The then-owner that was involved in dividing the farm into plots,his daughter said that her father was an idealist and with the development of the township wanted to create the first resting in Transvaal for descendants of slaves.
2. Amongst the residence of Eersterust is said that the township was the first resting outside of Pretoria where the postman at the end of the previous century could rest after his trip between Lydenburg and Pretoria hence the name Eerste Rust. (The name is in 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...
.)
3. Some of the residence said that the Republican forces that came with the British during the three years of War out of Pretoria stopped at Eersterust, rested before they continued there struggle.
Housing in Eersterust
There were three types of accommodations units found in Eersterust, sub-economical units, economical units and private units. There were three sub-economical units that consisted of two-, three- and four-room houses. The two- and three-room sub-economical houses were linked together and had a combination sitting room / dining room / kitchen, had no ceiling, built in electricity points, warm water in side the house, a bathroom, a toilet inside the house and no doors and was built on small plots.More information available at Eersterust Online.
Culture
The township of Eersterust and its communities often relate to the well-known cultures of South Africa, Sport, Music and more. A very common culture is the culture found amongst the youth, of which teenagers express their love for celebrations, action, music and sports. The best-loved genre of music upon the youth is South African House.Many other music genres are loved by the whole community and celebrated as well, such as hip-hop, folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, RnB
RNB
RNB is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:* Nankai Broadcasting – , a broadcasting station in Ehime Prefecture, Japan* Rhythm and blues* Contemporary R&B* Russian National Library...
, traditional
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
(such as RocknRoll) as well as techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
. As Technology is concered Disc-Jockey's and Graphic Design's such as Grafiti
Grafiti
Grafiti is an electronic music group formed in 2007 by Leama and James Davis and known for its progressive house and Techno productions. Its tracks are regularly played by well-known DJs, such as Sasha, John Digweed, Nick Warren and Sander Kleinenberg, and have been included on electronic music...
, is also a very well knowen cultural thing in this community. Sport in this township can include European Soccer, Rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and South African &/or Local Soccer.
Nationally across South Africa, Braai
Braai
The word braaivleis is Afrikaans for "grilled meat."The word braai is Afrikaans for "barbecue" or "grill" and is a social custom in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The term originated with the Afrikaner people, but has since been adopted by South Africans of many...
-ing is also a much loved culture in Eersterust. A celebration at local clubs, or stadiums is a well-known community culture. The Youth has also been influenced by the American Hip-Hop Culture, which is why many teenagers customise their cars in a form of "Pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
ing". Crime however can also be referred to as a culture in Eersterust, but only locally as Eersterust is an independent township, and only renders help from who can provide and who it can serve for, (such as the Government).