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1,000 signatures reached
To: City of Cape Town Mayor, Patricia De Lille, Mayor
Save the last remaining District 6 land from alien building developments.
We the undersigned call for;
1. The remaining 42 hectares of District 6 land be declared a national heritage site.
2. The Province, developers and CPUT to stop the encroachment on District Six land and from taking more land designated for restitution away from the people evicted here in 1966.
3. The Mayor expedite the restitution process and remedy the injustice of past racially discriminatory laws and practices
1. The remaining 42 hectares of District 6 land be declared a national heritage site.
2. The Province, developers and CPUT to stop the encroachment on District Six land and from taking more land designated for restitution away from the people evicted here in 1966.
3. The Mayor expedite the restitution process and remedy the injustice of past racially discriminatory laws and practices
Why is this important?
From 1960 to 1983, the apartheid government forcibly moved 3.5 million black South Africans in one of the largest mass removals of people in modern history. There were several political and economic reasons for these removals. First, during the 1950s and 1960s, large-scale removals of Africans, Indians, and Coloureds were carried out to implement the Group Areas Act, which mandated residential segregation throughout the country. More than 860,000 people were forced to move in order to divide and control racially-separate communities at a time of growing organized resistance to apartheid in urban areas; the removals also worked to the economic detriment of Indian shop owners. Sophiatown in Johannesburg (1955-63) and District Six in Cape Town (beginning in 1968) were among the vibrant multi-racial communities that were destroyed by government bulldozers when these areas were declared "white."
District 6 land earmarked for restitution was 150 hectares, but developments on the land have reduced the land to 42 hectares. More is planned to be taken away. By having D6 declared a National Heritage Site stops further encroachment, meant for restitution. It does not stop an appropriate and comprehensive development that speaks to restitution and restoration.
Shahied Ajam, director of the District Six Working Committee, says: “The social evils affecting our people today can be attributed to the apartheid legacy, where gangs and drugs are a direct result of people being dispossessed ... and having to defend their territory.”
District 6 land earmarked for restitution was 150 hectares, but developments on the land have reduced the land to 42 hectares. More is planned to be taken away. By having D6 declared a National Heritage Site stops further encroachment, meant for restitution. It does not stop an appropriate and comprehensive development that speaks to restitution and restoration.
Shahied Ajam, director of the District Six Working Committee, says: “The social evils affecting our people today can be attributed to the apartheid legacy, where gangs and drugs are a direct result of people being dispossessed ... and having to defend their territory.”