Athlone is located in the Cape Flats, a vast and remarkably flat area of low-lying territory to the southeast of the City Bowl that has been colourfully referred to as the “dumping ground” of apartheid, which is to the east of the city centre. Crawford, Bridgetown, Newtown, and Silvertown are some of the smaller residential districts found inside the larger suburb of Athlone. The Wembley, a classic roadhouse where you may literally wait in your car to be served, is a great place to enjoy traditional Malay and Indian food and specialities that are unique to Athlone and something of a Cape Town institution.
Anyone who is asked to locate Athlone will mention one of the suburb’s two most prominent landmarks: the Athlone Power Station, which consists of two sizable stacks and is a prominent aspect of the city’s landscape but is no longer in use. These towers, sometimes known as the “Athlone Towers,” have been decommissioned and will be destroyed soon, but this decision was made in late 2007 and they have not yet come down. There are worries that the towers and the area around them contain asbestos and that blasting them could endanger the health of nearby residents.
The Athlone Stadium, the home field of Ajax Cape Town and Santos Cape Town, is Athlone’s second notable landmark. Prior to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, when it served as one of the primary training locations in Cape Town, the Stadium underwent extensive renovations.