Cape Town - Eight places in the historic District Six have been declared National Heritage Sites.
The announcement was gazetted by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, declaring Seven Steps, the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church parish centre and convent, the Moravian Church, Zeenatul-Islam Masjid, Al Azhar Mosque, Trafalgar High School, Harold Cressy High School and the Jewish Cemetery nationally protected as part of the first phase of areas in District Six to be declared National Heritage Sites.
SA Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra) senior manager of heritage conservation management, Ben Mwasinga, said one of its partner institutions, Vidamemoria Heritage Consultants, played a big role in providing the necessary research on all the sites.
“Most importantly, the sites were chosen because these are the remaining existing buildings that were not demolished during the forced removals,” he said.
He said the sites represented the “existing historical fabric of District Six”, with the eight now included in the country’s national estate joining Robben Island, the Union Buildings, Parliament and Liliesleaf, among others, as sites of significance.
Al Azhar Mosque chairperson and “former Trafalgarian”, Igshaan Higgins, said: “The road to the declaration of Trafalgar High and the Al Azhar Mosque has been long and would not have been possible without the able assistance of Quahnita Samie of Vidamemoria and Ben Mwasinga of Sahra. We as the Al Azhar congregation members are overjoyed.”
Samie said: “My grandfather had a tailor shop in District Six and my father’s business is still operating from a property within the District Six boundary.
“I currently live in District Six so this has been a passion project and something that I thought was very important to acknowledge the significance of the area, of people’s contributions to the area,” Samie said.
The Moravian Church in South Africa said it was delighted that the iconic Moravian Chapel, one of the oldest churches in South Africa, had been declared a National Heritage Site.
“This declaration is affirmation of the work that the Moravian Church has done in South Africa. We appreciate the work that Sahra and especially Quahnita Samie have done to realise this dream.”
Harold Cressy Alumni Association chairperson Shafick Ismail said the school was awarded provincial heritage status in August 2014.
“This particular National Heritage status is a tribute to generations of the finest teachers or educators the school has had over many, many decades since inception in the early 1950s.”
Ismail had been a student from 1976 to 1980.
“We were taught many things other than what was in the textbooks. They really conscientised us about everything in life, and in particular the socio-political climate at the time and I think that is the huge reason why we are who we are today.”