Marabastad, Pretoria

Marabastad (also called Asiatic Bazaar or Location) is a business area near the city centre of Pretoria, South Africa. The original Maraba Village, situated just to the south of the present Marabastad, was founded and ruled by the Ndebele Chief Maraba. The name Marabastad is the Afrikaans word meaning Maraba's Town. Marabastad was a culturally diverse community, with the Hindu Mariamman Temple arguably being its most prominent landmark. Like the residents of other racially diverse areas in South Africa, such as District Six, "Fietas" and Sophiatown, the inhabitants of Marabastad were relocated to single-race townships further away from the city centre. These removals were due to Apartheid laws like the Group Areas Act. Unlike Sophiatown, Fietas and District Six, it was not bulldozed, but it retained many of its original buildings, and became primarily a business district, with most shops still owned by the Indians who had also lived there previously. Some property was however owned by the city council and the government, resulting in limited development taking place there. In addition, a large shopping complex was built to house Indian-owned shops. The black residents of Marabastad were relocated to Atteridgeville (1945), the Coloured residents to Eersterus (1963), and the Indian residents to Laudium (1968). There are plans to revive once-picturesque Marabastad, and to reverse years of urban decay and neglect, although few seem to have been implemented as of 2005. Marabastad was named after the local headman of a village to the west of Steenhoven Spruit. During the 1880s he lived in Schoolplaats and acted as an interpreter. During this period some Africans lived on the farms where they were being employed and also chose to live on other, undeveloped land. Schoolplaats could also not accommodate all the migrants and this resulted in squatting. An overflow from Schoolplaats to the north-west and Maraba's village occurred and in August 1888 the land was surveyed by the government.