Rehana Rossouw
EBRAHIM JACOBS says his heart belongs in District Six, and he supports the application to the Land Claims Court because it offers the best opportunity for tenants to return to the area.
Jacobs’s family was among the last to leave District Six. They were kicked out in 1981 after alternative housing was built for them in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain more than 25km from the city centre.
He lodged a claim this year with the regional land claims commission on behalf of his parents, who were both born in District Six and had hoped to die there.
Jacobs is the secretary of an organisation called Concerned Ex-Residents of District Six which represents 900 ex-residents and is part of the District Six Development Forum.
His grandparents, father and mother were born in District Six, and his parents raised their nine children in a three-bedroomed terraced home they rented in Upper Ashley Street. The house survived the demolition of the area, but the street has been renamed Blinders Street.
”We’re not expecting to get our old house back, we know that’s not possible, but my parents want to move back to the area at least,” said Jacobs.
All the Jacobs children went to school in District Six, and when the family was moved to Lentegeur, they made a daily trek to school each day.
”We were never happy in Lentegeur. The only good thing about the move was that the families from District Six were all moved together and so neighbours could stay in touch with each other,” Jacobs said.
”But the children grew up without the same kind of community spirit there was in District Six and today the area is plagued with gangsterism and crime.
”My family has never felt settled in Mitchells Plain and so when the opportunity arose to claim back our right to District Six, we made sure our claim was lodged.”
Jacobs said his parents had been tenants for all of their lives and would now have purchase a new home in the redeveloped District Six. Their nine children are all committed to assisting financially.
”My brothers, sisters and I would also love to move back, but we know that won’t be possible. My heart is in District Six but the pain of leaving will be eased if at least my parents get the right to live there again.”
He said it was very frustrating that the redevelopment was now delayed by the District Six Residents Association’s opposition to the Section 34 application.