Watch: Langa's Special Quarters: A long-awaited demolition marks a new beginning

The City of Cape Town has demolished the derelict Special Quarters in Langa, clearing a building long associated with crime, overcrowding and decades of community frustration.

The demolition happened on Tuesday, bringing down a structure that City officials and residents have described for years as one of the township’s most troubled sites.

“Today the City demolished the old Special Quarters in Langa, a site that had sadly become one of the area’s most notorious problem buildings,” said Mayco member for Safety and Security, JP Smith.

He said the block had become a magnet for criminal activity. “For years, it was a haven for drug use, stolen goods, cable-theft operations, and even a place where bodies were dumped.”

Smith thanked the teams involved, adding: “Removing this one is a major step toward restoring safety, dignity, and progress for the people of Langa, and supporting their thriving tourism sector that has long been harmed by such a problematic building in the heart of their precinct.”

The demolition comes after years of planning under the City’s hostel transformation programme. That process formally entered a new phase in 2020, when officials began renewed engagements with Langa, Nyanga and Gugulethu communities about upgrading hostel areas across Cape Town.

By that point, the City had identified the hostels as among the worst remnants of apartheid-era housing, originally built for single migrant workers and never intended for the multigenerational families who later occupied them. A 2010 assessment ranked the condition of hostels across the metro and prioritised those in Langa, where deterioration was most severe.

The City reported in 2020 that about R250 million had already been invested in upgrades and 463 new apartments delivered. Plans for the next phase included an estimated 660 new units on the Special Quarters and New Flats sites at a cost of about R320 million, with funding applications submitted to national government.

By 2023, during Langa’s centenary, the worsening state of the hostels overshadowed celebrations. Community members told the Cape Argus sister publication, Weekend Argus that many families were still living in severely overcrowded, ageing blocks dating back a century.

They described poor sanitation, cramped rooms shared by large families, and decades without meaningful improvement.

The long-standing concerns set the backdrop for Tuesday’s demolition, which removes one of Langa’s most decayed hostel buildings and opens the site for future development once funding is secured.

Smith said the City will continue targeting derelict structures across Cape Town. “The City remains committed to combating dangerous, derelict structures in every community.”

For many Langa residents, the fall of Special Quarters is a long-awaited sign that change — slow, contested and years in the making — may finally be gathering momentum.

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Cape Argus