LAMONTVILLE

Lamontville is a small township community of some 51,000 people is near Chatsworth and Umlazi. As the oldest township near Durban, Lamontville has a rich cultural, political, artistic, and athletic history. Created in the early 1930s with a population of 19 000, Lamontville was intended for the rising African middle class of the time. However, because of its location near the edge of town, most people did not want to live in Lamontville because it was far away from work and school.

Over time, individuals from the farms began to move to Lamontville for a chance to work in the industrial sector. Most of these individuals lived in shacks which allowed:

• Family reunification
• A safe place for those fleeing abusive relationships or rural poverty on the farms

Now many of the older homes have large families (grandparents, adult children, and grandchildren) all living together. These families tend to be original Lamontville residents. Newer families from the farms and other communities living in shacks are seen as outsiders. Many of these newer residents are in the process of moving to transit camps with the hope of permanent government housing.

However, Lamontville still remains an athletic, artistic, and cultural hub. Lamontville is especially known for their soccer team, the Lamontville Golden Arrows.

The main social issues include: poverty, HIV/AIDS, unemployment, crime, drug abuse, domestic violence and rape.

Lamontville Baptist Church partnered with CAST through an existing partnership between Westville Baptist Church.

Programmes currently implemented, including average monthly statistics: