by Jaamia Galant
Established as a public holiday on September 24, 1995, Heritage Day was deemed the quintessential “Rainbow Nation” holiday, declared as a day to celebrate the rich history and diverse cultures that make up the fabric of South Africa as a nation.
Ten years later, a campaign, which still has some traction today, was mounted to reduce the diverse and vibrant cultures into one unifying culture, calling on us to celebrate Heritage Day as “National Braai Day”.
Nowadays, on social media and on the radio, Heritage Day inevitably sparks all kinds of conversations about the other traditional and cultural foods we can celebrate on the day.
Surely our heritage is more than just our traditional foods? Our heritage is intertwined in the histories of our families, our communities, our land and our environment.
In post-apartheid South Africa, our quest to chase the elusive “Rainbow Nation”, has also led to the incremental erasure of the painful histories of dispossession and displacement, dating from the 17th century and as recently as the 1960s, that is integral to the heritage of so many families and communities in this country.
In the Western Cape today, for example, we have families dispersed all over the Cape Flats whose history and heritage is entwined in the winelands of Constantia, the docklands of Simon’s Town and Kalk Bay, the banks of the Liesbeeck River and the slopes of Table Mountain and Signal Hill – from Claremont and Newlands all the way round to District Six and Green Point.
Not only are the families on the Cape Flats disconnected from their ancestral land and environment closer to the mountain, the areas have few spaces that memorialise the history of dispossession and displacement of people and communities that once lived and thrived in the spaces.
This erasure of memory was painfully encountered recently when we were made aware of the placement of a monumental plinth, titled the “Newlands Spring”, in Springs Road, Newlands.
The accompanying plaque (with the City’s “Heritage & Environment” logo) provides an account of the Newlands Springs which is almost entirely focussed on the achievements of the late 19th century Scandinavian businessman, politician and local property and water owner, Anders Ohlsson (d.1912).
It frames the history of Newlands in terms of the (still) highly profitable brewing and property industry in the Newlands/Claremont area.
While the “monument” may purport to be merely the marking of a natural spring, it is clear from the text and images that what is being provided is a particular version of history.
The skewed version of the history of Newlands village and the springs, erases all memory of the pain and loss of communities of colour, who had been living in the area from the early 19th century and were brutally ejected from these neighbourhoods in the apartheid forced removals of the 1960s.
The former residents were an integral part of the development of this green, desirable place at the foot of the mountain. Their children grew up playing in the streams of Newlands, long before many of the present residents were born.
Scattered all over the Cape Flats, they and their descendants, watched as their homes and heritage were profitably bought up and “gentrified” in this lucrative property market. The land and its spring waters were valued only as an economic resource, rather than a shared heritage and an environmental asset.
The wetland, pasture and forest landscape was once valued, used and managed by our San and Khoekhoen ancestors. Their beliefs, rituals and very social fabric were entwined with the rain-fed waters. But where do we see and hear about the history and heritage?
This land holds the graves, labour, memories, tears, and dreams of our ancestors, systematically stripped of their humanity, political rights and dignity by successive colonial and racist regimes.
Although some displaced former residents and/or descendants today are pursuing land claims in a bid for restitution and justice, others have, over time, lost all connection with their family heritage and history in Newlands/Claremont.
In a bid to begin the journey of reclaiming the lost history and heritage of the area, the Claremont Main Road Mosque, in partnership with St Saviour’s Anglican Church in Claremont, (both institutions established in 1854), will be leading a Walk of Remembrance through the streets of Claremont and Newlands on Heritage Day tomorrow.
We will meet at 9am in the parking area of St Saviour’s Anglican Church in Brook street and walk along Main Road, briefly stopping at Claremont Main Road Mosque, then proceed up Protea Road and Kildare Road, and end at Newlands/Kildare Spring, in Spring Road.
We hope the Walk of Remembrance will be the catalyst for the launching of an oral history project and mobilise support to establish an inclusive Newlands/Claremont Heritage, Environmental Justice and Restitution Society.
* Galant is the secretary of the Claremont Main Road Mosque. She works in education development at UCT.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Do you have something on your mind; or want to comment on the big stories of the day? We would love to hear from you. Please send your letters to [email protected]