Bishopscourt families forcibly removed during apartheid set to return in 2028

• Families forcibly removed from Protea Village in Bishopscourt during the 1960s are now expected to return later than originally planned
• Bulk infrastructure, including roads, water, sanitation and street lights, has been completed at the Bishopscourt development site
• The 86 claimant families' homes will be funded through the sale of 50 plots in one of Cape Town's most expensive suburbs

Dozens of families forcibly removed from Bishopscourt, Cape Town, during the 1960s will live there again in 2028. It will be more than six decades since apartheid-era authorities displaced them.

The timeline has been pushed back from a previously anticipated 2027 completion date. Construction on the 86 claimant families' homes will only begin in March 2027, with the project set to be finished in the first half of 2028.

Following land claims lodged in 1995, 86 families chose land restoration while 46 others accepted financial compensation. The journey has been slow, delayed by court cases and planning appeals over many years.

According to GroundUp, the development uses a cross-subsidy model: 50 plots within the Bishopscourt estate are being sold on the open market, with proceeds covering the cost of building the claimant families' homes. The first 33 plots sold for an average of R4.5 million each. As of the site visit on Monday, 33 stands have already been transferred to buyers, seven are still in transfer, and the final ten are reserved, with those sales expected to be finalised next month.

The City of Cape Town has invested R83 million in bulk infrastructure, and in 2021, the land reform department contributed R60.8 million towards the development. Roads, water, sanitation and street lighting have all been installed. Four hectares along the Liesbeek River will also be set aside as a publicly accessible greenbelt.

Residents affected by delay

The human cost behind the delays is perhaps best captured in the words of 85-year-old Victor Josephus, who attended Monday's site visit. His family was removed in the late 1960s. He recalled coming home one day to find a letter informing them they had been relocated to Manenberg, a place he had never heard of before. Josephus said:

"I would really like to come back, I'm 85 already. I just hope that I'll see it before I close my eyes in death."

Fellow claimant Martha Thomas said she was glad to be returning to the "beauty of Protea Village," close to the church and the mountain, though she acknowledged that most of the community's older members had already passed on.

Andre Maxwell, chair of the Protea Village Communal Property Association, said the occasion marked "another important step towards restoring our community, rebuilding homes, and renewing a legacy that spans generations."

Wayne Alexander, chief director of the Regional Land Claims Commission in the Western Cape, added that for millions of South Africans displaced under apartheid, the milestone carried hope, while also acknowledging the limitations of the land restitution process and the need for continued partnerships to address them.

Other Briefly News stories about land reform

• Gogo Lucy Rasiboka, a 105-year-old survivor of apartheid-era forced removals, was handed the keys to her new RDP home in Lufhereng, Soweto, by Gauteng Human Settlements officials after waiting in the system since 1996.
• President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the release of 2.5 million hectares of state-owned land with title deeds to black farmers under the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy to address agricultural inequality.
• The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development confirmed that white South Africans are excluded from applying to lease state land under its Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation Policy, restricting eligibility strictly to African, Coloured, and Indian citizens.

Source: Briefly News