Deputy President David Mabuza has committed government to speed up the process of resettling people who were forcibly removed from District Six in Cape Town.
Mabuza says government will work with all the claimants to ensure that nobody is excluded. He visited the District Six Development Project on Tuesday where he inspected new homes that will be allocated to some 108 claimants as part of phase two of the project.
Mabuza was accompanied by members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Agriculture and Land.
Video: Deputy President David Mabuza conducts an oversight visit to the District Six Development Project
[IN PICTURES]: Deputy President David Mabuza in his capacity as the Chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Land Reform and Agriculture, conducts an oversight visit to the District Six Development Project in Cape Town, Western Cape. #LandReformIMC #DistrictSix pic.twitter.com/Gn5iHi20eI
— Human Settlements (@The_DHS) March 22, 2022
In 1966 about 60 thousand residents of District Six in the centre of Cape Town were forcibly removed as the area was declared for Whites Only. With the advent of democracy, the government has committed itself to a process of land restitution and District Six is one of the areas earmarked for a return of some of the residents and compensation for those who choose not to resettle.
In the current phase of the project, 108 families will receive their housing units. The chairperson of the District Six Civic Association, Asa Allie While she has received her unit during phase two of the project, she is worried about others who are still waiting.
“I am very happy for people who now are going tp move in. But his is 28 years later. There’s only 139 plus 108. It’s not even 300 people who the list. If the president can go to the Treasury to save Eskom and SAA. Save district 6 because our people are dying. It is now great grand children who are going to beneficiaries the actual people who were removed, they are all dying off,” says Allie.
“We are pleased that in the course of the process of restitution and redevelopment of District Six, the government has engaged with different stakeholders, in particular, those representing the displaced and beneficiary District Six community” – Deputy President David Mabuza. pic.twitter.com/KsVNFTgScz
— Human Settlements (@The_DHS) March 22, 2022
One of the complaints about the new units that are being allocated is that they are inaccessible. Claimants are not happy that very old people have been allocated units on the third floor of the block of flats.
One resident said she has to be helped to get to her flat, “I am 80 yrs old. I had an operation. Both my legs I cant walk properly. My son had to carry me up the road now because I cannot walk up that hill but the thing is I am waiting 25 years. Waiting to come home.. I been sick for three months now I got out of my sick bed to be here. But I would really like to come back to where I was born.”
Mabuza assured the claimants that government is aware of the anxiety of the claimants, especially the elderly who would like to return before they die.
“We’re quite aware of the pain you have suffered all these years. You’ve been waiting for your dignity to be restored hope a long time that we know when we look at you in your eyes, we can see the pain and we can feel it. But we are here to say we will not abandon you until your dignity is restored,” says Mabuza
Several government departments committed themselves to make sure that the remaining 954 units are built as soon as possible.
Minister for Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza also acknowledged the pain of the claimants.
