Remembering victims of dispossession
FIFTY-ONE years later, the restitution process for the residents of District Six was still no closer to a resolution, residents on the Walk of Remembrance lamented over the weekend.
On Saturday, about 200 former residents carried placards with the names of their streets, long since bulldozed into the annals of history. They wound their way from the District Six Homecoming Centre to the suburb on the slopes of Devil’s Peak.
“The residents standing with the street signs was very powerful. It elevated and reminded people,” said Bonita Bennett, director of the District Six Museum and organiser of the annual walk.
It takes place in commemoration of the 1966 proclamation of District Six as a white area, under the Group Areas Act of 1950.
The event is held annually on February 11.
With many of the streets rezoned to suit the purposes of the apartheid era architects, the “integrity of the walk was compromised” and instead of ending in Hanover Street, the traditional heart of District Six, the walk ended on Kaisergracht, which runs along the same meridian that Hanover Street once did, said Bennett.
The hot weather could not wilt the hopes of the former residents, as they remembered their past, their places and the people who made up life in District Six, she said.
“The walk was everything we imagined it would be. It was great. The St Cecilians Band and the four young actors who narrated and interpreted the stories were the right touch,” said Bennett.
She said many of the participants had used the opportunity to pledge their support for declaring District Six a national heritage site, which would mean the area would be legally protected and preserved for its “legacy as South Africa’s first truly integrated and tolerant society”.
It was also important to keep a balance between remembering and celebrating the past and the multitude of “real issues” still surrounding restitution, she said.
On the eve of the walk, Vuyani Nkasayi, Rural Development and Land Reform Department spokesman, reiterated the department’s commitment to restoring dignity to “the victims of dispossession”.
By July, 20 houses are due to be completed as part of Phase 3 which consists of 108 units, either in apartment blocks or terrace houses, and an access route which will link Keizergracht and Constitution Street.
The delays on the project included high levels of ground water, bad weather that hampered the builders, obtaining building plans and the discovery of electricity cables.