Community divided over Bishopscourt land claim agreement

A land claim settlement has divided the Bishopscourt community at Kirstenbosch.

On one side, 86 families who successfully claimed the land have the support of one of two ratepayers' associations in the area, while three residents opposed to the claim are backed by the other. The Fernwood Residents' Association is in favour of the land claim but the Bishopscourt Ratepayers' Association is against it.

The row stems from a 2006 official handover of two pieces of land to 86 former Protea Village families.

The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights handed back rightful ownership of the land to the families following years of waiting.

The families had been among people forced off their land under the apartheid government's Group Areas Act in the 1960s. In 1957, a substantial area around Table Mountain had been proclaimed a white Group Area

The Protea Village settlement below Rhodes Drive and the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, was initially the living quarters of former slaves of the Protea estate. In 1884, when Bishopscourt came into being, Protea Village was incorporated into this area that was owned by the Anglican Church.

There was joy at a ceremony that coincided with Heritage Day celebrations in 2006 when the families were given back the land. Some of them had lived on it more than half a century earlier. In 2002, R805 000 was distributed to 46 other former residents who opted for the standard settlement offer for tenancy rights lost at the time of dispossession.

The two pieces of land awarded to the 86 residents were erf 212 Bishopscourt, now a plush suburb, and erf 242 Fernwood, undeveloped land occupied by trees and vegetation.

The settlement agreement included more than R300 000 in settlement and restitution grants, and more than R2 million for land occupied by the claimants but now belonging to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and the Rhodes Trust.

However, almost four years later, the 86 families have not occupied the land because three Bishopscourt residents have gone to court questioning the legality of the decision to award the claim.

Now a court battle is under way in the Cape Town Land Claims Court. The case is expected to run until tomorrow.

Cape Times

Posted at 10:23AM Mar 12, 2010 by Editor in Residential  |  Comments[1]