The event sees the celebration and memorialisation of the rich heritage of District Six and acknowledges the pain that was caused when the then Cape Technikon was built on the site.
It has been 52 years since the neighbourhood was declared a whites only area and the District Six community was forcibly removed using the Group Areas Act of 1950. More than 60 000 people were forcibly removed and relocated to barren outlying areas on the Cape Flats. Shortly afterwards on a portion of this land the Cape Technikon was built to service the technical educational requirements of white students exclusively. In 2001 the National Plan on Higher Education saw the merger of various higher education institutions including the Cape Technikon with Peninsula Technikon. In 2003 the merged institution was renamed the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).
CPUT has acknowledged that the institution unfairly benefitted from the injustices of the past and the renaming of the Cape Town campus is just one step towards a more inclusive working relationship with the displaced District Six community and current residents that has strengthened since 2015.
Appreciating that memorialisation without the support of District Six stakeholders would be pointless. CPUT established a District Six task team that has been working hard to ensure that the reconciliatory gestures by the university are more than just symbolic. As such, the university has formed collaborative partnerships with D6 community organisations like the D6 Six Community Forum, Reunion of Hearts, D6 Homecoming Centre, St Mark’s Anglican Church and Moravian Hills Church, and D6 High Schools, D6 Homecoming Centre, former and past residents, and religious institutions with the aim of creating beneficial projects and initiatives.
Handing back 42 hectares of land to the Department of Rural Affairs and Land Reform was one of these gestures as are a number of genuine efforts to engage in difficult dialogues with the community about their pain and loss. Other efforts include access to bursaries and to CPUT facilities like the Multi-purpose hall and other university spaces on the Cape Town campus.
According to Jacqui Scheepers, Manager of Community Engagement and Work Integrated Learning, “The initiative themed ‘Re-imagining CPUT in District 6’ was conceptualised in 2016 by the Service-Learning and Community Engagement Units to involve staff, students and society in projects which could re-imagine the space and structures on the Cape Town campus as a means to strengthen the relationships between CPUT, District 6 Homecoming Centre; including past and current residents. This initiative stands to benefit the community of D6 who require training, mentorship and support as well as leading to opportunities for students to implement the scholarship of engagement through meaningful projects, including providing research opportunities for postgraduate students. Students and staff from multi-disciplines will work collaboratively with communities to exchange their knowledge and skills”.
Finally we believe that educating our students about the history of the space that they now occupy is a critical component of the sensitisation process.
