The Langa township was established as result of the forced removal of Blacks from Ndabeni in the early 1930’s. The Catholic church at \Athlon served the Langa catholic school-children.
Between Fr O’Reilly and Bishop Henneman, st Louis School came to be in 1935. Mass was held at the school until the church of St Anthony’s was built in the 1940’s. Sr Veronica, from Loretto convent, Seapoint, became involved in educating Langa adults. The night school for adults truly began in the sacristy of St Anthony’s and in adults. Volunteer teachers helped meet the big demand for education. As a result of generous overseas and local donors, Langa saw the development of a third institution named after a saint, namely the St Francis adult education school. The St Francis Cultural Center, as it is known, is a well-regarded Langa instition, and is even visited by some tour-operators, who bring the occasional mini-bus load of tourist for a quick viewing of the centre.
Today the St Francis School provides day-schooling for matriculants who need to complete two or three Matric subjects, and night school for adults. The underlying philosophy is to help educate the disadvantaged, mainly in regard to financial constraints. The centre also has a large hall with meeting rooms, which is reneted at constraints. The center also has a large hall with meeting rooms, which is rented at low cost for Langa community (eg,as a pension pay-out point, or for functions) The very well run St Anthonys Pre-school is also here, accommodating some 180 pre-school children.
Living on the premises of this complex are 3 caretakers 9with their families), 3 holy Cross sisters (in their own house), and one parish priest in the presbytery attached to the church. Langa is a relatively small area, with long established urban blacks, mainly Xhosa, although there is a growing number of refugees, especially Angolans.