Home

‘Walk in the Night’ commemorates abolishing of slavery in the Cape

Reading Time: 2 minutes

An Emancipation Day walk commemorating the abolition of slavery in the Cape, took place in Cape Town. The “Walk in the Night” march marks the end of slavery on 1 December 1834 in the Cape Colony.

Descendants of slaves and community members took part in the laying of flowers at the memorial where the old slave tree once stood.

Community members joined the 13th annual walk organised by the District Six Museum.

Museum Director Bonita Bennett says the march is to educate young people.

“We kind of re-act some of the joy, think back on some of the traditions and also use it as educational opportunity so that people can have experience we walk past every day. We are not aware; particularly for the young people.”

Many Capetonians have traced their ancestors back to the slave period. Al Ameen Kafaar has done a research on his family slave history.

“I can trace my slave ancestry to 1768; it was a person by the name of Omar Sawal, who was born in the Cape, and I managed to trace them down to a point in Uitenhage in 1834 when emancipation took place. But in between, there were a couple of things I discovered… he was a tailor by trade, progenitor of the Kafaar family. He was an ombudsman, but they were all born in slavery.”

Author

MOST READ