Cape Town - Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille joined 40 beneficiaries of a Rondebosch East land claim to celebrate the claimants’ getting back land that was taken from them by the apartheid government in the 1960s.
The event forms part of the City's commitment to redress, ensuring that the rights of people who were dispossessed of land are restored through a process of land restitution.
The Rondebosch East claimants submitted their land claim in 2001.
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"It is a true honour for me to be here today to celebrate this historic occasion just two days before we celebrate Human Rights Day.
"These occasions are also bittersweet because we are here to celebrate a big step in this journey but it also reminds us of our very sad past and the cruel manner in which people’s rights were trampled on," De Lille said.
"I looked at the history of this land claim and it is truly heart-breaking because it is a story that unfolded in so many lives, breaking up families and integrated neighbourhoods and scattering people all over the Cape Flats.
Mayor Patricia de Lille joined 40 beneficiaries of a Rondebosch East land claim to celebrate the claimants’ getting back land. Picture: Supplied
"People were moved out of their homes from this prime land here in Rondebosch East and dumped on the Cape Flats."
De Lille said that when she looked at the claimant list, it reminds her of just how many people were displaced and put all over the Cape Flats.
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"We look at the names of the claimants and it is a reminder of what the good old days looked like in District Six and other areas with integrated communities where people of all races and religions lived together.
"Today there are claimants who now live in Southfield, Bonteheuwel, Gugulethu, Kuils River, Rylands and Grassy Park," she said.
"This group submitted their claim in 2001 and in 2008 the City sold the land to the Department of Land Affairs for restitution purposes.
"In terms of restitution, the City’s role is to give back land for which a claim has been submitted to the department. The claimants have been waiting for more than 10 years for the Department of Land Affairs to transfer the land officially to the claimant community so that they can commence their development process and resettle on their land."
In the past six years the city has handed over land in Constantia, Somerset West, Lotus River, Claremont, Simon’s Town and Bishopscourt.
