Riyaz Patel
Coinciding with Heritage Day and amid a carnival, sometimes emotional atmosphere in in District Six, Cape Town, Keizersgracht Street has officially been renamed Hanover Street; the name it bore before the apartheid bulldozers moved in, forcibly removing residents to the Cape Flats in the ’60s.
“The names of streets and other landmarks in District Six are of great relevance to the way that the history of the area is acknowledged, and its tragic past is memorialised,” the District Six Museum tweeted.
“Renaming forms an important part of restitution.”
With the renaming, the people of District Six who were previously forcefully removed to the Cape Flats will have their dignity restored, said the Department of Land Affairs.
Land minister Thoko Didiza presided over the renaming ceremony with hundreds of former District Six residents in attendance.
In a surprising twist, a District Six activist lodged an urgent application in the Western Cape High court to halt the renaming of Keizergracht to Hanover Street.
In his court papers, Achmat Williams claims the public participation process is flawed.
