We’re a bruised generation
WE ARE the offspring of former District Six residents. Many, including ourselves, fail to comprehend the impact the forced removals of our parents had on us as children, and we need to empower ourselves and break this vicious cycle. We were the ones: That saw and heard the rumble of bulldozers moving in to destroy our homes to make way for a “superior people”. We were the ones: That saw grown men cry as they said goodbye to family and friends, loading their belongings onto open trucks to be dumped on the inhospitable Cape Flats. We were the ones: That witnessed what a white supremacist regime can do to its own citizens because of the pigmentation of their skins. We were the ones: That had our schooling interrupted, resulting in underperformance and language adjustments obscuring our future prospects. We were the ones: That saw our parents’ dreams and aspirations shattered due to economic disruption and social chaos, which in turn obscured our future prospects. We were the ones: That saw family and friends succumb to gangsterism, prostitution and drug addiction to deaden feelings of low self-esteem and worth. We are the ones: Now seeing our parents wither away and die without being compensated by the democratically elected government they put into power. We are the ones: Now seeing unscrupulous developers, politicians and those appointed to be our mediators turn this unfortunate event into a political spectacle. We are the ones: Now looking across this barren landscape, our home ground District Six, asking: “What was that about?” as it did not become what was intended, being taken over by a criminal element threatening to turn it into another informal settlement.
Yes! We – a bruised generation. SELWYN WILLIAMS Maitland