In the early 1980's the Apartheid government decided to move all 'legal' black people from existing townships to a new township. The government classified people as legal if they had had already lived in the area for ten years. The new township was called Khayelitsha which means 'New home'. At the same time the government planned to move all illegal people to Transkei, a homeland created in the eastern part of the country. People living in existing townships near Cape Town resisted this move.
Fighting broke out in townships between the government and people who lived there. This fighting caused people to move to Khayelitsha, saying they are forced to move to Khayelitsha because of the violence and moving to Khayelitsha was not their intention it was exactly what the government wanted them to do.
In 1990 the population of Khayelitsha was estimated at 450,000 and unemployed at 80 per cent. Roughly 14 per cent lived in small core houses, 54 per cent in serviced shacks, and 32 per cent in unserviced ones. Hardly anyone had electricity and most inhabitants had to fetch water from taps. Social control was largely maintained by unofficial, unpopular elected councils. Today Khayelitsha is home to millions of people and still HIV epidemic, crime and unemployment is the most critical issue.
