District Six claimants to reject government proposal

DISTRICT SIX claimants are set to reject the government’s plan to speed up the restitution process, according to the District 6 Working Committee yesterday.

They said they would continue the fight to return to the historic area they were forcibly removed from during apartheid. The Western Cape High Court in November ordered the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform to formulate its plan and submit it no later than yesterday.

The plan was required to include a conceptual layout for the redevelopment of District Six; funding details and budgets; time frames for the plan’s implementation; and a methodology that would be applied in allocating residential units.

Committee chairperson Shahied Ajam said the department meeting its deadline was surprising but set the stage for a landmark case which could have ripple effects on a national level.

“The plan has been submitted and we the committee will review it and the judge will set a court date in a few weeks’ time. We are prepared to battle this matter because I can tell you now we will reject their proposal,” he said.

The District Six Working Committee filed an application demanding the state to account for allegedly breaching its constitutional obligation by not providing restitution to more than 1 000 District Six claimants.

Ajam was confident that the District Six community would be successful in its ultimate goal to return to the historic area. He said they had over the past several years conducted their own plan, which included a historic park, roads and the return of 3 000 claimants to social housing.

District Six was declared a whites only area under the Group Areas Act on February 11, 1966 and by 1982 more than 60 000 people had been forcibly removed to then barren outlying areas, today known as the Cape Flats.

Ajam said it was no coincidence that human rights advocate Geoff Budlender was representing the community pro bono, but a testament that the District Six community were in close proximity to victory.

Rural Development and Land Reform spokesperson Phuti Mabelebele said the department submitted its plan to the Western Cape High Court but was unable to give more details.