Heartfelt plea for Ramaphosa to prioritise restitution of District Six land
AN OPEN letter to His Excellency, the President of South Africa, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa Dear Mr President, Alan Paton once wrote: “It is my unqualified contention that it is impossible – and, indeed, no one really contemplates it – to compensate for the major injustices of the Group Areas Act. There can be no compensation for changing a man’s whole life on the grounds of his race.”
Having regard to that statement, I need not remind you how the violation of basic human rights by the previous colonial and apartheid regimes resulted in the dehumanisation and destruction of a people; the fragmentation of communities; and accompanying deep woundedness. Take, for example, the brutal rape of my beloved District Six by many masters and pretenders – and, yet, she refuses to succumb or die. The horrific scattering of thousands of souls across the desolate plains of the Cape Flats (with other dispossessed communities), caused the once tightly knitted social fabric of the people to disintegrate.
The spirit of togetherness (Ubuntu) was broken to the core and the regime succeeded in instilling a sense of racial prejudice (almost hatred) and alienation in the minds of the people that would last for many years to come.
Twenty-four years into our young democracy, regrettably, there are people of all races who still find it difficult and even unacceptable to live or work alongside each other. Due to the effects of inter-generational trauma, many of today’s youth also needs healing from brokenness. It is not surprising that, today, South Africa is ranked as the most racially, spatially and economically segregated country in the world.
At the heart of the matter is the history of apathy displayed towards restitution in District Six by stakeholders such as the State, Provincial Government, City of Cape Town, together with roleplayers such as the District Six Beneficiary & Development Trust and Reference Group, in the aftermath of the establishment of the principle agreement flowing from the historic Land Claims Court case no LCC11/1996. Briefly, in 1996, restitution was opposed by the City of Cape Town and the Provincial Government of the Western Cape in terms of section 34 of the Restitution of Land Rights Act.
A newly created entity called the Cape Town Community Land Trust was established on September 29, 1994 by the City Of Cape Town, and a Trust Deed accompanied the application. The Trust was going to serve as the SPV (special purpose vehicle) with a mandate to acquire and hold vacant land in District Six for the benefit of the people of District Six. The chairperson of the Trust at the time was advocate Seraj Desai (now judge of the High Court). Mr Davidson’s founding affidavit made it clear that certain strategic parcels of vacant land (44.8 hectares in total), belonging to the City, Provincial Government, National Housing Board and the State, would be transferred into custody of the Trust.
The court ordered a facilitation process late in 1996, which was followed by a withdrawal of the application by the City and Provincial Government in 1998. Had the parties kept to this original plan, restitution in District Six would have (become) a catalyst and model for urban restitution. May I suggest that familiarising yourself with the case content would provide a framework of understanding my point.
Mr President, did everybody conveniently “forget” that 71 426 inhabitants were evicted, resulting in 2 375 properties being destroyed and those properties expropriated at an average cost of R9 560.00 each?
Land measuring approximately 150ha (according to the enclosed map), along the boundaries of Canterbury and Drury Lane in the City Bowl, Newmarket, Searle and College streets in Walmer Estate, Roeland, Philip Kgosana Drive in lower Vredehoek, Nelson Mandela Boulevard and, lastly, Darling, Tenant and Sir Lowry Rd, that was reduced to rubble, has remained like this until the late 1990s. Many of the properties belonging to the “whites” of yesteryear are still owned by them today. To this day, the empty land where thousands of families once enjoyed a strong social and economic network of sustainability, stands out shamefully as a visible scar in the heart of the city; a stark reminder of the brutal legacy of apartheid.
Urban restitution, as in the case of District Six, has been a dismal failure. Government needs to become proactive in its efforts to genuinely restore the people’s dignity.
Every person who sees District Six as “home” has a story to tell. My personal story started 60 years ago when I was born at the Peninsula Maternity Hospital in Caledon Street. I spent the first six years of my life with my great-grandmother (Mymoena Bosch) at No 212 Caledon Street, next to St Mark’s primary school. The following 12 years were spent at No 56 Rutger Street, when my parents acquired a house of their own (which is where we resided until our forced removal to Hanover Park in 1977). Heartbroken and devastated I felt emasculated. God forgive me, but a sense of pure hatred overcame me.
It took me many years to work through such feelings and I’m ever grateful that several years later two giants of humanity entered my life: the late Justice Essa Moosa (previously a human rights lawyer ) and Mr Mushtaq Parker (now a High Court judge). They employed me as a consultant at their law firm and, with their mentorship and guidance, I cut my teeth in human rights and political activism. I would be dispatched to a range of townships to manage conflict between the dreaded riot police and students.
After spending 25 years in Namibia, I returned to South Africa to serve my people. I started out in Hanover Park as a community activist and later became the chairperson of the District Six Working Committee (D6WC). It is in this capacity that I appeal to you to prioritise the restitution of land in District Six to those from whom it was taken. Although I am not a restitution claimant, I remain a victim; and, strictly speaking, I also need to heal.
In post-apartheid South Africa, interventions by three presidents are worth noting – but did nothing to improve matters. The late Nelson Mandela handed over the first keys of a limited number of housing units to returning District Sixers in 1995. After President Thabo Mbeki, President Jacob Zuma promised in 2011 that houses for others would be finished by 2015. This promise turned out to be hollow.
As we celebrate Human Rights Month, I would like to congratulate you on your election to the highest office in the land. I pray you will steer our country from darkness to the light and that the people of South Africa, in all their diversity, will regain their faith and hope in government under your visionary leadership. In your acceptance speech, you stated that a “new dawn” is upon us and, with bated breath, we await your next definitive move in the land reform programme. All we ask of you, Mr President, is to restore to the people of District Six what is rightfully theirs.
Ajam is chairperson of the District Six Working Committee