Laudium is an Indian area situated on the South West outskirts of Pretoria. In about 1950 the Indian community in central Pretoria were forcibly relocated to Laudium under the Apartheid government. Laudium was officially proclaimed an Indian township in 1961. Present day Laudium is still predominantly Indian but has a mixture of other races and nationalities as well.
Even though Laudium had a roughly equal Hindu and Muslim population with the Christians being a small minority, today the Muslims are the majority and dominant community in Laudium. There are 12 mosques, 5 Islamic schools (academic and Islamic) and numerous Madrassas (Islamic schools where children study the Qur’an) in Laudium and the neighbouring suburb of Erasmia which is also predominantly Muslim populated. The South African Muslims in Laudium are mainly Memon (originating from Gujurat, India) and Konkani (originating from Maharashtra, India) besides others. There is also a growing Pakistani community in Laudium and it is becoming more and more common to hear Urdu being spoken everywhere in Laudium. Other Muslim foreign nationals such from Malawi, Somalia, Nigeria, Egypt and others also make up a substantial part of the population.
The next biggest religious community in Laudium is the Hindu community. There is the Gujurati temple, the Tamil temple, the Sri Ayyappan temple and other groups that meet in homes. There is a Gujurati school and the Pretoria Hindu School.
Although there are 7 churches of different denominations in Laudium the Christians are a small minority.
The different religious groups live together in relative social harmony.
Economically Laudium is a fairly affluent society but has its poor areas as well.