Mense who had been violently uprooted from their homes as a result of the Group Areas Act, on Tuesday walked along the streets of their youth as they took part in the annual Walk of Remembrance in commemoration of Heritage Day.
The event was initiated by the Newlands/Claremont Heritage, Restitution and Environmental Justice Society (NCHERS), along with the two oldest institutions in the areas, the Claremont Main Road Mosque and the St. Saviour's Anglican Church in Newlands, both celebrating its 170th anniversary.
Leading the march was the Young Guiding Stars Sacred String Band, one of the oldest Christmas Choir Bands, established in Harfield, Claremont in 1932.
Commencing at Livingstone High School Hall with prayers, the walk was a slow paced affair as families and friends reunited, reminisced and reconnected.
Inside the hall, several displays connected to the history of the communities were on display, with an extensive exhibition on the late apartheid-era martyr and activist, Imam Abdullah Haron.
Author and poet Richard Henry Buttress, 77, currently a Colorado Estate resident, was displaced from Newlands at the age of 13 or 14 years old and said: “It was in 1956, I think, when we found out that the Group Areas Board had nailed an eviction notice on a big tree in Stoney Place in Newlands. And then the news spread and most of our people were heavily traumatised because now they had to search for other accommodation.
“One by one they left, one by one they emptied the village. Every single fabric of society was torn apart because of the acts of the Apartheid Government.”
Claremont Main Road Mosque Imam Rashied Omar said the NCHERS intends to identify different historical routes each year. The walk is a third of its kind and was formally established in 2022 on Heritage Day.
“It is our hope that the Walk of Remembrance will be the start of a journey of acknowledging and reclaiming the history of the displaced communities of Newlands/Claremont.”