Unholy row as nuns try to cash in on District Six
Angry tenant accuses Catholic sisters of ‘dark, hidden’ act
MEMBERS of the Holy Cross Catholic Church in Cape Town say they are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to stop the church’s nuns from selling the row of six cottages where they live. One of the parishioners, Séan Savage, has written to the Vatican about the plight of the tenants in the cottages in Searle Street, District Six. A donor bought the properties, Savage said, for parishioners who moved there in 1928.
In the ’60s and ’70s, virtually all the residents of District Six — a largely coloured area — were subject to mass removals under apartheid’s Group Areas Act. Many of those evicted were sent to what was then a new township, Mitchells Plain.
But the tenants of the cottages were able to stay on, thanks to the intervention of the church.
The Searle Street cottages were bequeathed to the Holy Cross Sisters on the understanding that they would never be sold.
But in December last year, the parishioners stumbled on an online advertisement that said their homes were for sale.
Savage said he had written to the nuns complaining about the “unjust act” of the sale of the 606.19m² property — believed to be worth millions.
Savage wrote to the head of the order, Sister Loretta Oliphant: “When an act that is so unjust is carried out by you and your order, we have to ask ourselves, how does this bring honour to God?
This is the only place I know. They will never understand
“Remember the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:23-35 — read it,” wrote Savage, referring to a biblical passage about the Christian way to deal with financial debts.
In an interview, he said: “The Catholic Church of old has, or so they say, been there to uphold the word of God and the plight of ordinary God-fearing people.
“However, they stand by and allow such an ungodly act to be carried out not to strangers or illegal tenants, but their own parishioners who have faithfully served the church and the nuns for the past 100 years.
“As the process of restitution is under way in District Six, this dark, hidden act is being carried out by the Holy Cross Sisters.”
Savage, 58, was born in District Six. His mother lived in one of the two-bedroom cottages and an aunt in another.
He said it was ironic that the Catholic Church had resisted the forced removals in District Six, but now, decades later, as a “free man”, he was fighting the same battle against the church.
Another parishioner, Vanessa Collison, 45, has lived in one of the cottages all her life.
She said that before her grandmother died, Sister Loretta’s predecessor had promised that Collison would always have a home. “This is not just a house,” she said, bursting into tears.
“This is the only place I know. They will never understand. We have been living in limbo too long — surely there must be a Lord somewhere that protects us.”
All the parishioners said they were willing to buy the homes, but they had heard that the sisters were looking for “investors” instead.
Oliphant said the council of the Holy Cross Sisters was selling the property so they could focus on their “core vocation”, which was evangelising to the poor and needy and providing education.
“Nobody is precluded from making an offer on the property including the current residents,” said Oliphant.
“The purpose of the property was to provide accommodation for educators who needed it and subsequently the need arose to assist with accommodation for needy families.”
Father S’milo Mngadi, spokesman for the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference in Pretoria, said the property belonged to the sisters.
“We may have pastoral oversight, but when it comes to their properties, unfortunately, the church does not have a say.”
When an act that is so unjust is carried out by you and your order, we have to ask ourselves, how does this bring honour to God? Remember the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18: 23-35 — read it