District Six deal is a second injustice

LET US not forget at this time the painful forced removal from our beloved District Six.

Let us remember the friends and neighbours we had to part from.

Lets us not forget the pain and suffering, the hardships we endured, and still do, when we were forced to relocate to a foreign place, the Cape Flats. Many of our elders have passed on, some with a broken heart because of the injustice inflicted upon them.

Those of us who by the grace of God are still alive are at the same time very unlucky, as an injustice is being inflicted upon us, for a second time. Having claimed for restitution, we are now expected to pay R250 000 for our return.

The development plan on the table is an insult, as only 30 percent of our land is being returned to us. The remainder (about 30ha) of the prime land will be grabbed by big businesses and the rich while we, who suffered the forced removals, are to be crammed into high-rise buildings.

Is restitution not meant to restore that which was lost?

The District Six we remember was not a place filled with high-rise buildings.

If the authorities – national and local government – want a model city, then they must do so somewhere else, not on restitution land.

This deal was negotiated by the D6 Beneficiary and Redevelopment Trust and is promoted and presented to the claimants as a favour to us. They are clearly not speaking on behalf of the claimants and it is high time that they be seen for who they are.

It has to be asked, what motivates them? They should get the boot.

This deal seeks to divide us once again. In the past we were discriminated against along racial lines, now we are being divided between those who can afford R250 000 and those who can’t. Do not allow these capitalists to sow division between us. The right to return is for all who suffered the forced removal – “Vir die wat die suiker gehad het, so wel as vir die wat bietjie suiker kom vra het.” (For those who had sugar, and those who came to ask for some.)

Any claimant with a conscience will reject this development plan and demand a better deal, a deal that will give justice to all, not just a select few. We all suffered the same injustice, now let us all enjoy the same justice.

We owe it to those District Sixers who have sadly passed on.