A detailed plan on the re-development of South Africa’s fabled District Six has been submitted to the Land Claims Court for approval, Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza said on Wednesday.
District Six, located outside Cape Town, was a victim of apartheid rule. Being the only township in the area which was fully integrated, and where blacks, whites, coloureds (mixed race) and Indians lived together, the township was an anathema to the philosophy of apartheid’s “separate development” laws.
So one day in the 1960s the residents woke up and found bulldozers outside their homes, and after being ordered to leave their homes, the machines began to pull down the structures after the white minority regime of the day declared District Six a “Whites Only” area.
Decades later and under a new democratic government, the evicted residents came together to form a group to reclaim their land. The government, however, advised the residents to present their grievances to a court of law through the ministry.
Upon her appointment, Didiza was appraised on the matter and she requested the court for an extension of time in order to give the process the necessary attention.
That extension of time to submit the detailed plan was on Tuesday, and this enabled the minister to proceed with the submission of the plan to court on Wednesday.
The minister said engagements with interested parties have taken place, including a meeting between Didiza and the affected claimants held on 14 December 2019. Further engagements are envisaged, she said.
In addition, the minister said quarterly reports will be submitted to court disclosing progress on the redevelopment plan after the court’s approval.
NM/jn/APA