Finally, the City of Cape Town politicians have done what we expected all along. The outcome of our Appeal against the rezoning of the River Club land has ended with the City ignoring widespread public opposition, overlooking the facts of the case and justifying the River Club development as a wonderful benefit to the people of Cape Town. The mayor, acting on the recommendation of his Planning Appeal Advisory Panel, released a statement on the 19th April, rejecting our appeal and that of other Khoi groups, environmental NGOs, social justice networks and many individuals. In doing so, he not only extolled the development, portraying it as as a boost to the Cape Town economy, but he had the temerity to claim that Khoi heritage would be honoured through destruction of the open space floodplain and filling in of the original Liesbeek River.
Yet the City has not even repaired the plaque commemorating Khoi history along the Liesbeek, a plaque that was vandalised in August last year and which the OCA reported as a heritage crime to the City. So much for the City’s track record of honouring Khoi heritage.
Instead, the Observatory Civic Association, in conjunction with the Salt River Heritage Society, the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous Council, the Two Rivers Urban Park Association (TRUPA) and the Oude Molen Eco Village will undertake a ‘walk of resistance’ on Freedom Day, the 27th of April 2021, to register our opposition to the development and the associated destruction of irreplaceable intangible heritage. The resistance of the Khoi to colonial intrusion, and the historic defeat of the Portuguese colonialists at the Battle of Salt River in 1510 presage the spirit of resistance to injustice that continues to permeates the site. TRUP has been nominated for Provincial and National Heritage status and is slated for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This resistance is deep and it is strong and it will be seen in court where we challenge the faulty planning decisions of the City and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning.
The walk will start at the Goringhaicona Khoena Kraal at Oude Molen at 9am and end at the plaque, on the banks of the Liesbeek opposite Hartleyvale, where a reinstallation ceremony will take place at 11am to commemorate the real heritage of the area, rather than the manufactured version which the LLPT wants to deliver care of Amazon Inc.
Anyone is welcome to join the march and all COVID-19 protocols will be observed, so make sure to bring your mask. For more information, email info@obs.org.za.
We are not surprised that economics has triumphed over sensitivity to heritage and the environment. This is a City where money gets to come first, and where the notion of sustainable development is exploited to serve private interest. The City has ignored its own heritage department and environmental management specialists who said the development was clearly inappropriate.
The OCA will be consulting with our legal team in preparation to taking both the City and DEADP decisions on review in the High Court. It’s going to be an expensive business and the developers have lots of financial muscle behind them, including one of the richest men in the world, so if anyone wants to contribute to a fair legal challenge, where ordinary citizens can seek and get justice, please consider giving us support at our fundraising website.
This is a struggle for justice – for environmental justice, for Khoi dignity and for civic democracy – please help us by making sure that justice can’t be bought by money.