Marabastad, Pretoria

Marabastad 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 City.BackgroundMarabastad 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.