Laudium
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Laudium is an Indian township in Centurion (Tshwane metropolitan area), South Africa. It was a settlement formed under the apartheid government as part of their segregation policy aimed at moving ethnic groups out of Marabastad and central Pretoria, which were being zoned as 'White Areas' around 1950. Laudium was proclaimed an Indian township in 1961. Laudium has 3 extensions which were completed in 1976, 1978 and 1983, respectively.
The original name for Laudium was Claudius, (originally reserved for White residents), named after a Claudius Marais de Vries who owned a farm called Mooiplats and was the mayor of Pretoria at the time. A portion of the original Claudius retained its name and white population for a time, but the white population of Claudius has long since been displaced by Indians and Claudius has effectively become an extension of Laudium. As apartheid ended, many residents of Laudium relocated to the neigbbouring (formerly whites-only) suburbs of Erasmia and Christoburg, and many lower income residents (many who lived in an area called White Blocks) were relocated in the early 1990s to a new township called Lotus Gardens. A road was eventually built to link Erasmia, and Laudium directly.
Laudium has roughly equal numbers of Hindu and Muslim residents, with a large number of mosques and temples. Many of the Muslim residents are Memons.
During 1981, an Umkhonto weSizwe rocket attack on the Voortrekkerhoogte (now Thaba Tshwane) military base was launched from Laudium [1] (http://www.polity.org.za/html/govdocs/pr/1998/pr0429.html?rebookmark=1)[2] (http://www.anc.org.za/anc/newsbrief/1998/news0508). The homes of local politicians who supported Apartheid were also bombed in the 1980s.
Although Laudium was initially part of Pretoria, it was incorporated into Centurion following the end of apartheid. Centurion, including Laudium, was incorporated into Tshwane in 2000.
Laudium is a relatively wealthy area, with large mansions visible from the R55 road (although technically many of these homes are in Claudius, not Laudium). Laudium also has a reputation as a centre of white-collar crime, especially amongst South African Indians.
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Geographic data
Latitude : -25.7833 Longitude : 28.1000 Altitude (meters) : 1445 Altitude (feet) : 4744 Time zone : UTC+2
Schools
Laudium has a large number of government schools. However, since the end of Apartheid, most Indian children from Laudium have begun attending private religious schools, or schools in formerly white areas. While the government schools continue to be staffed mostly by Indian teachers, most of the pupils in these schools commute daily from black townships.
Public Schools Laudium Secondary School Himalaya Secondary School Laudium Primary School Andrew Anthony Primary School Laudium Heights Primary School Hillside Primary School Jacaranda Primary School Rosina Sedibane Sports School Sunrise School Private Schools Pretoria Hindu School Central Islamic School Pretoria Muslim School
See also
External links
- A description of Laudium (http://www.saweb.co.za/townships/township/tshwane/laudium.html)
- SA History (http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/town&c/villages/gauteng/pretoria/laudium.htm)Template:SA-geo-stub