Last week two pages of the Cape Times and the Cape Argus were devoted to celebrating the 50th anniversary of Cavendish Square.
Usually, such a celebration would pass almost unnoticed, except by those who may want to take advantage of any specials offered. But the 50th anniversary of Cavendish Square has not and should not go unnoticed.
In 1969, Claremont and surrounding areas were declared white areas by the apartheid regime, and thousands of people who had lived there for generations were forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to the wastelands of the Cape Flats.
Property developers such as Old Mutual, the owners of Cavendish Square, estate agents, speculators and other unscrupulous beneficiaries of apartheid descended on these areas like vultures to pick at the carcasses of dead animals, grabbing the best of the properties for speculation and profit, without any thought for or care about the victims of apartheid, whose lives had been destroyed.
Old Mutual demolished homes and constructed Cavendish Square. An estate agent opened an estate agency in a home in Harfield, while others bought cheaply, and then renovated and sold properties at a profit.
Harfield was renamed Harfield Village and had a special attraction because of its unique architecture and roads named after areas in England.
A few years earlier, the white residents of Bell Road had complained the residents of Harfield used Norfolk Road as a thoroughfare and so the City Council constructed a stone wall across the road to stop the residents from taking the short cut.
Walls have historically been used to keep unwanted human beings out of various places. The “Norfolk Wall” became redundant and was demolished after the original inhabitants had been removed from the area.
The new inhabitants of Harfield even declared war on Rosmead Primary, a black school, supported by the city councillor, and demanded its closure because the school was “noisy”. The councillor demanded Rosmead “shape up or ship out.”
Many of the dispossessed died during the forced removals simply of broken hearts. Others became victims of the gang violence spawned by the Group Areas Act or suffered various types of hardships occasioned by the forced removals.
Today, Cavendish Square, like Harfield Village, Newlands and the other areas declared white, remain grotesque monuments to the barbarity of apartheid, while schools such as Rosmead Primary and Livingstone High, which the community fought to retain, and the churches and the mosques which refused to be demolished, with the handful of residents who could not be forcibly removed, stand as powerful symbols of courage, resistance and defiance.
Human beings are resilient and the instinct to survive is powerful. Despite the removals, the hurt, the pain, the humiliation and the suffering inflicted upon the dispossessed, the memory of those forced removals lives on in the minds of those who remain and their families, who still seek and demand justice, redress and proper restitution.
When next in Cavendish Square, listen carefully. Perhaps the mournful wails of the souls of those tortured by the brutality of forced removals may be heard.
* Enver Daniels, Punts Estate.
** 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].
All letters to be considered for publication, must contain full names, addresses and contact details (not for publication).