Evicted residents fight for land

Tears flowed as memories of apartheid-era forced removals were relived by families locked in a legal battle to reclaim a now-larney stretch of land.

Yesterday, surviving family members of the old Protea Village in the heart of elite Bishopscourt were part of an inspection of the area carried out by the Cape Town High Court.

Judge Shanaaz Mia was present on the emotional journey as families visited houses once occupied by coloured people.

Feelings ran high as people visited the old church and school they attended as children and the graveyard where parents and grandparents were buried.

Advocate Joey Moses, who represents the evicted community in the land claim, says the purpose of the inspection is for the court to gather factual information to prove that a community once lived in the area.

"The land was given to these families by the Bishop of the Anglican Church. When the Bishop sold the land to the State, the deed of sale stated that the families should not be evicted," says Moses.

"The apartheid Government then used the Group Areas Act to evict them."

The land claim is being opposed by resident William Booth and two others.

Arguments for both parties will be heard from today until Friday in the Cape Town High Court.

The Judge's inspection kicked off at the graveyard next to the Good Shepherd Church, which is under restoration to commemorate their historical homecoming should the court grant a favourable decision for the claimants.

But for some family members, the moment was too much.

As a tearful Anne Tomlinson-Ntebe laid a bunch of flowers on the graves of her mother and grandmother, she says: "It is really sad that my parents are not with me today in this fight to get our land back."

Turning to a building next to the graveyard, she says: "This was my primary school. The entire building has been revamped but is still on the same foundation. The steps we used as kids are still intact."

But Anne's and so many others' lives were shattered by the Group Areas Act of 1966.

Anne walked slowly down Kirsten Avenue and stopped at a crumbling wall.

"This is where we, as a community, waited for the E6 bus to Cape Town," she says.

Another resident, Pastor Cedric van Dieman, 60, says: "I was 13 when we were evicted. I have been fighting for the past 18 years to get our land back."

- Daily Voice