Lenasia Watch

Lenasia is a large town located south of Soweto in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The town is not far from Johannesburg Central Business District (35 km) and is zoned within the “City of Joburg” Municipality.

The first inhabitants of Lenasia were of Indian origin. During the Apartheid era, Johannesburg’s Indians were placed in the vicinity of the Lenz military base. Thus the name “Lenasia” which is believed to be derived from the words “Lenz” and “Asia”. The town was home for many of the famous Feitas’ residents who were expelled under the Group Areas Act, a segregation law passed by the then apartheid government of South Africa. As the apartheid policies intensified, Lenasia became the shelter of choice for people of Indian descent.

As the years passed, people of Lenasia grew more and more discontent with the policies of the apartheid government. The local community took part in opposing the national tri-cameral elections held in 1984 and 1989. One of these elections’ objectives was to establish distinct legislative assemblies based on racial classifications. The move was intended to deepen the already racial segregation and deprive the rights of black people in South Africa. The community of Lenasia also contributed to the establishment and running of the United Democratic Front (UDF), the country’s foremost anti-apartheid organization in the 1980s and early 1990s, and were early supporters of the current ruling ANC party .When the apartheid regime finally collapsed and the African National Congress came to power by the means of the free elections held in 1994, several activists who call Lenasia home became high-ranking officials in the ruling government.

Over the years Lenasia has undergone major developments transforming the then small township to a vibrant and flourishing suburb that is today. The local economy is booming with shopping malls, banks and places of worship spattered around the town. Lenasia is home to to three prominent satellite radio stations namely Radio Islam, Eastwave FM (Lenasia’s own radio station) and Channel Islam International. Owing to the ongoing expansion, the town became very large to the point that it’s now divided into extensions with the largest one called Lenasia South or Daxina as the locals prefer to call it.

As is the case with any other large towns in the world, Lenasia suffers from some problems. The top problem is the burgeoning population. Given the scarcity of land plots to be developed for residential projects, the real estate prices tend to soar to unrealistic levels. As a result, people with low-to-medium income levels find it  Another problem is the constant youth immigration to other regions because of pursuing their dreams of working for the big corporations.

Despite its Indian heritage, today’s Lenasia is best described as a cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic town with many colored and black people chosing it as their new home.

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