A sense of emotion fills you as you enter Atteridgeville. One of the first sights to greet you is in the Atteridgeville Cemetery where Kgomotso Ditsego is buried. Kgomotso was the first victim of the 1976 uprisings and her memory is still treasured in this small township west of central Tshwane.
At the United Reformed Church resistance groups such as the Atteridgeville/Saulsville Resident's Association and ANC Youth League met during apartheid times. Pan-Africanist Congress meetings were held at many sports grounds to mobilize residents against the apartheid regime.
Atteridgeville is the original burial place of Solomon Mahlangu, an ANC freedom fighter, hanged on 6 April 1979 for his part in the Goch Street shooting on 13 June 1977 in Johannesburg. His body was later exhumed and reburied in Mamelodi, where a statue has been erected in his honour.
Driving through Atteridgeville, you notice that this area is established and the houses suburban.
Atteridgeville, like in many other townships in Tshwane, has a rich jazz culture and the township jazz sounds can be heard in most taverns and shebeens. Atteridgeville quickly became known as the jazz capital of South Africa with many well-known musicians emerging from this dynamic community.
