Cape Town - The City is making good on its promise to preserve fragments from the homes that were demolished 54 years ago after the forced removals from District Six. The fragments are to be placed on a memorial wall.
Crews with bulldozers and excavators have been working at the site since the end of June.
It was announced at an event at the Castle of Good Hope to mark the 54th anniversary of the Group Areas Act of 1950, that the next step towards rebuilding District Six would be removal of rubble from the demolitions after the forced removals, to prepare for construction. Fragments from the homes of residents who were forced to leave would be removed and stored.
Mayco member for spatial planning and environment Marian Nieuwoudt told claimants about plans to place the fragments on a memorial wall in District Six. Heritage officials had agreed that “we are going to build a remembrance wall based on the model that they used when they demolished the Berlin Wall. So whatever sentimental item or value item that’s been found when they remove the rubble will be set on the wall,” Nieuwoudt said.
On February 11, 1966, the apartheid government declared District Six a “whites only” area under the Group Areas Act of 1950. For the past two years, the area has been frequently in the news, most recently for hauling the government to court for its failure to provide restitution to District Six claimants since 1998.
But there seems to be new hope for residents longing to return to their homes. After a court battle, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform said it would be breaking ground in November this year.
District Six Museum acting director Chrischene Julius said: “In the past the museum has received artefacts that were found at the restitution site next to CPUT.
“We would be interested in any material found but if excavation happens because of the restitution process, the assumption is that the Department of Rural Development and Land reform will put in place the necessary heritage protections, and then contact us, as has happened in the past.”