District 6 ready for revival

Commemorative walk reminds South Africa that justice is yet to be served in suburb

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, Premier Helen Zille, and mayor Dan Plato are expected to meet District Six land claimants on Monday to discuss a return to a rebuilt neighbourhood in the next three years.

The District Six Working Committee (D6WC) will be hosting the group at the Castle of Good Hope in commemoration of the 1966 declaration of District Six as a “whites only” area.

Chairperson of the D6WC, Shahied Ajam said more than 500 dignitaries from all tiers of government, business, the judiciary and civil society were expected to attend the event to meet 300 of the current 3 500 District Six restitution claimants.

Ajam said the meeting follows a recent court victory in the Western Cape High Court by the D6WC and its claimants to compel the government to produce a viable and sustainable development plan for District Six to the court by no later than February 26.

“District Six endured much pain over the years, but she is ready for a revival. We are concerned about the plight of those who remain excluded from housing opportunities to which they are entitled (to) in the inner part of the city,” said Ajam.

Meanwhile, the District Six community will will once again take to the streets in their march to highlight the ongoing struggle to return home – the annual commemoration walk will take place on Monday at 11am, starting at Buitengracht Street, and ending near St Mark’s Church in Zonnebloem.

Director of the District Six Museum, Bonita Bennett said the walk dated back to about 2000 but had taken place before that.

“Commemorating significant past events becomes more and more difficult. Occasionally overwhelmed by present issues, it might seem like an indulgence to mark the past. But, despite the potential for the issues of the day to completely absorb our attention and energies, we know that it is dangerous to live in the now only.

“Legacies live deep and we need to acknowledge them appropriately,” said Bennett.

She added that the annual march was a way for people to ensure that the right to memory was non-negotiable, and its place in nation-building was to be affirmed.

“We remind ourselves of the unfinished business of land restitution, and of the ongoing displacement of people even in the new South Africa.

“On this day we acknowledge the impact of the Group Areas Act and its legacy on the people who were directly affected by it,” she said.

Chairperson of the District Six Beneficiary Trust, Anwah Nagia told Weekend Argus that the Walk of Remembrance had taken place since the early 1980s.

“As a student at Trafalgar High in 1976, we have been marching and holding demonstrations against what happened to the residents of District Six. In 1989, we had our first national and international Hands Off District Six campaign.’

According to Nagia, more than

6 000 families were moved to “the wastelands of the Cape Flats”.

In 2014, 110 families returned to District Six, and Nagia said there remains a “political willingness” to return people to their homes.

“The DA wants to beautify the ghettos but the city centre remains out of reach for most people.

“They use excuses like identifying the claimants, funding and whether people want to return as reasons for why the process of restorative justice is so slow,” said Nagia, adding that while the march had decreased in size, the fight for justice would continue.

“The truth is the majority of one.”

ANDILE WEEDER District Six Museum Archive DISTRICT Six claimants tie their wishes to stones along the path of their annual Commemorative Walk. It’s believed that up to 5 000 claims still need to be processed. |