Free pass to museum a painful ‘dompas’ reminder

IN RESPONSE to the heated debate surrounding the so-called green card “dompas” system for workers in Worcester, the District Six museum and Ogilvy Cape Town have launched a campaign offering citizens of the Boland town a free “pass” to the museum.

District Six Museum director Bonita Bennett said the experience would serve as a reminder to the workers of the painful impact the dompas had on past generations.

“The green card system is eerily reminiscent of the Pass Laws system, which spanned more than a century and which was only abolished in 1986. This was an internal passport system designed to segregate the population and limit the movements of black South Africans. Implementing this system in the present is of great concern,” said Bennett.

To facilitate awareness of the past, the museum will waive the usual ticket price for Worcester residents so that they can receive a free history experience of the pass laws and the misery, indignity and severe infringement of the right of free movement they caused for several hundred years.

“We aim to raise awareness of local and international visitors about the past, and the lessons we can take into the future. We want to remind South Africans that under our progressive constitution, we are all equal,” she said.

Worcester resident and local radio journalist Vuyo Mrashula welcomed the initiative as a great way to help residents remember what had happened during apartheid.

“We are 21 years into our new democracy, but the emotional wounds of what happened to people are still with them. This initiative would also not have any political agenda attached to it because it would give the visitors an understanding of what happened in context with only the facts of history,” he said.

Worcester community leader and activist Rodney Visagie said the initiative would assist in creating awareness of a history many had forgotten.

“The history of the Khoisan people have especially been ignored, and in the process our integrity has also been stolen. There are some people who are fine with carrying the green card because they feel at least they have a job,” he said.

“There is still a lot of ignorance relating to our past, and our people also don’t talk to their children about what happened. This understanding of the past can be reinstilled through the museum’s invitation. I will also definitely try to attend as well.”

Worcester’s Community Policing Forum chairman, Guido Opperman, said the museum’s invitation was a heartfelt initiative to remind the Worcester community about the history of the country.

“We are still concluding our investigations on what happened, but once the dust has settled, we can deal with the aspects of how and why this incident happened through partnerships with the District Six Museum and the Human Rights Commission,” he said.